VENUS AND THE HELPER
by redinkpen
Summary: Ghost Protocol told from William Brandt and Jane Carter's point of view
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: I watched 'Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol' and fell in love with wthese two characters and was thus inspired to write this fic. Please read and review!**

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><p>Jane stifled a yawn and wondered when was the last time she had slept through the night. Her emotions kept her awake. Anger, regret, guilt. Mostly the guilt.<p>

"_You are going to be okay," she had said it more to assure herself than him. He knew, she could tell by the look on his face he knew that this was it; he was not making it out of this one. _

"_You're so beautiful." Tears filled her eyes at his words. How could this be happening? Not Hanaway. This was her fault. _

_Hanaway struggled to get the words out, "I'm sorry…should have told you…" Holding back a sob she leaned in to hear his final words. To hear his confession. _

Hanaway...if only she had gotten there a few minutes earlier. She should have run faster, why didn't she run faster…

The shrieks of joy from a small child being lifted onto his father's shoulders brought her back to present day. Holding the string of the balloon she made her way into the middle of the court before casually letting it slip through her fingers. Tilting her head up Jane smiled slightly as she watched it rise into the air.

Things had moved so rapidly in just a few hours. They had broken Hunt out of jail. Well, Hunt plus one. She had read his file, obviously, and knew everything there was to know about the Ethan Hunt. Still that had not prepared her for what it was going to be like working with him. In less than 24 hours she had already seen he was unorthodox and stubborn. Still, there was a calm about him, a self assuredness. Suppose that was a good thing for a team leader to have. He was also mad - of that she was sure. After all who else but a mad man would accept a mission to infiltrate the Kremlin?

It is what they had to do though. What she _needed_ to do. This brought her a step closer to Sabine Moreau—from the moment she had seen her picture on Hathaway's phone Jane had promised herself that the blonde would pay. She would avenge Hanaway—she owed him that much at least.

Looking though the camera she guided the balloon slowly and steadily, higher upward and over the building.

"Releasing in 3…2…1." Holding her breath she clicked the release only exhaling once it had been a success. Her part of the operation was done and she made her way to the rendezvous point.

Jane checked her watch as she waited. They should be done soon and then it would be onto part two—

"The nest is empty," Hunt's clear voice came over the comms carrying a tone of surprise with it. Empty? How could that be?

Scuffling. She could hear scuffling. Pressing a finger against the comm in her ear she listened. Someone was on their frequency. Jane's eyes narrowed as she heard whomever it was to relay a message of success back to his team leader. That was it. Their mission was blown. "Standing by to detonate" the voice said. A knot formed in Jane's stomach as Hunt called out orders for a new rendezvous point.

Turning on her heel she quickly made her way towards the van, weaving in and out of the unsuspecting tourists.

"Come on boys!" she muttered under her breath. The first explosion went off at the exact moment her hand touched the door handle. Jane looked towards the building as more and more explosions went off causing the architecture to cave inward.

Hunt! Benji! Without thinking Jane began running back towards the Kremlin. She had lost Hanaway—she was not about to lose Hunt and Benji too.


	2. Chapter 2

The man pushed his hood back as he climbed into the car. Brandt felt his blood run cold as the face under the hood was revealed. It was him. Someone he thought he would never see again, and if he was honest with himself, someone he had hoped he would never see again. Seeing him was just a reminder. A reminder of how he had failed him.

Brandt listened as the Secretary explained why they were in Russia. Try as he might, he could not bring himself to look at the man seated across from him and the Secretary. Instead Brandt adjusted his coat and shifted in his seat. That was until the Secretary introduced him and he had no choice but to extend his hand, which Ethan Hunt refused and instead requested for a pen. Brandt slowly removed a pen from his pocket and handed it over.

"Chief analyst, you say?" Instantly his defenses went up. In the past he might have screwed up, but not this time. This time it was not his fault.

His voice was calm as he responded, "If you are implying that I made a bad call…" Before he could finish Hunt shot off a description of a man and held up his palm that now had crude drawing on it. The drawing was not much to go on, but based on the description given Brandt knew of whom Hunt spoke. Kurt Hendricks.

Brandt rattled off everything he could remember reading or hearing about Hendricks from accomplishments to the fact that everyone thought he was crazy. Hunt responded by informing them that they needed to alert the Kremlin about a nuclear device being stolen and the activation codes being accessible.

"And what makes you say that?" Brandt asked with a hint of doubt in his voice.

However, once Hunt explained that he saw Hendrick leaving the building with the bag that contained the device, Brandt knew that this was serious. Unfortunately, Russian-American relations were far from copasetic. He was glad that the Secretary voiced his thoughts by telling Hunt that the President had now initiated 'Ghost Protocol.' Hunt's entire team was disavowed.

Brandt listened calmly and quietly as the Secretary explained what was going to happen. That was until he heard him tell Hunt that the only way he was not going to get to Washington and face jail time was if he escaped.

Escaped? Brandt frowned as he cast a glance toward the Secretary. Surely he was not suggesting that Hunt actually assault them and flee. As the Secretary proceeded to inform Hunt of where he could find resources Brandt's frown deepened. It was time to put a stop to this madness.

"Sir you may want to recon—" but his words fell on deaf ears. The Secretary continued to give instructions to Hunt and handed over a flash drive complete with a mission. Brandt was aware of the IMF. He knew that they were offered missions and were free to decline or accept them. He also knew that there was no way Hunt would turn down this mission. As Hunt took the flash drive from the Secretary, Brandt settled back into his seat defeated—awaiting his inevitable assault.

Suddenly, the car lurched surprising all three of them as gunshots started to ring out around them. Hunt yelled for them to get down, but it was too late for the Secretary. A bullet hit him point blank, killing him instantly. Brandt did not have a moment to grieve let alone blame himself. Before he knew it, the car drove off the bridge and sank to the bottom of the river.

A pocket of air allowed him and Hunt to catch their breath, "You okay?" Hunt asked him.

Stunned at the events, all he could manage was a nod and a simple "yeah" in response.

"Take a deep breath and stay with me," Hunt said and with that he was gone back under the water. Brandt had no choice but to follow. As they swam for the surface bullets pierced the water barely missing them. The only thing they could do was make their way back inside the car to that precious pocket of air.

Brandt took a deep breath of air, "What do we do?" he asked Hunt.

"Wait here!" he said quickly before he dove back under the water.

"Where else am I going to go?" Brandt said to himself out loud. The water was rising and he was sure this was it. This was how he was going to die. He could not help but regret the fact that he had not slept with the waitress from that morning. The one with the legs…

Before he knew it Hunt was back and tugging at him. Together they swam away from the car as the gunfire focused on a floating body with a flare attached to it. They broke the surface, gasped for air, and quickly made their way to the railroad.

It was cold and they were both shivering as they walked between the trains. A flare on a floating body—of all the ridiculous plans. How is it even possible it had worked? There was just no logic behind it!

"Why would that work?" he asked Hunt and received only short responses informing him that Hunt had played a hunch and it had worked. That was no answer.

"So, what was your scenario? Right? There is a guy being shot at in the water. All of a sudden he decided to light a flare and swim around? I mean, what did you assume they would be thinking?" Brandt stopped walking to face him and listened as Hut explained that the men they were up against were not road scholars. He was simply trying to draw the fire away from them.

Brandt drew in a deep breath. Just a few hours earlier in the day he had been eating breakfast while flirting with a waitress and now the Secretary was dead. He and Hunt were lucky to be alive.

"This is really happening, isn't it?" It was a rhetorical question he had not meant to ask out loud. Nonetheless, Hunt responded with a nod. It was then that they heard the train horn and began to look for the green car that was their ride out of there.

It did not take long for them to find it. Getting on it was another story. It took a few maneuvers around some poles and several tries on Hunt's part before the retinal scan was accepted. They both jumped onto the cart and lay on the ground in the dark while panting for breath. The lights came on a moment later.

"Ethan?"


	3. Chapter 3

She could not believe they had lost him. They rescued him from a Russian prison only to lose him less than 24 hours later. Jane could not help but blame herself no matter what Benji said. Again, it was her fault.

At least she still had Benji…she looked over at him on the other side of the train car, busy cleaning off a gun and she smiled to herself. She owed her life to Benji. He caught her by the arm as she was running towards the crashing Kremlin. He forced her back to the car and insisted they leave. She yelled at him, but deep down she knew he was right. They had to get out as soon as possible. There was nothing they could have done for Hunt.

A noise sounded within the train car letting them know that a retinal scan was trying to be activated. She put a finger to her lips and indicated to Benji to remain silent as they both picked up a gun. When the sound let them know the scan had been accepted, Jane hit the lights and sent the small car into pitch darkness.

Once the door of the car closed she turned the lights back on. There on the floor soaking wet and panting was Hunt. Hunt—plus one.

"Ethan?" Benji exclaimed, the relief evident in his voice.

"Jesus, I thought you were dead," he continued as the two men rose to their feet. Jane kept her gun pointed at them. She looked at the man Ethan brought with him and her stomach gave a small flip. Slowly, she lowered her gun. He was of average height with light eyes and she could tell by the way the damp clothes clung to his body that he had quite the physique. Hunt introduced him as an analyst. Her mouth was oddly dry.

"Analyst…" was all she could manage to say. Jane had known quite a few analysts in her time, but never any who looked like him.

Hunt placed a flash drive on the computer touch screen and Benji handed the analyst…Brandt, a towel to dry off. She watched him take a seat before turning her attention to the information now being displayed on the screens.

A man was talking about the end of the world, nuclear war, and how it could be considered part of evolution. Meanwhile, Hunt was on the phone trying to reach a contact. Jane watched the screen, but could not help but be distracted when Brandt got up from his seat and walked past her. Jane snuck a quick glance at him.

He was taller than she had first thought, though still within average height. Now that he had taken off his jacket she could see just how broad his shoulders were. Then there were his eyes—blue. He leaned on the wall next to her and unintentionally activated the release for the hidden wall that kept all the guns. This caused both him and Benji to jump. Jane bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling and watched him try and play it off as he returned to the other side of the room to sit down.

Hunt was talking now, telling them what had happened. What was going to happen. He mentioned Moreau and all of Jane's feelings came rushing back as she took in a shaky breath. Hanaway. The woman that killed him—that took him away from her. How could she even look at Brandt the way she had when her—when Hanaway had been dead for only a few days. Feelings of shame now joined those of anger, regret, and guilt that regularly resided within her.

The Secretary was dead and now 'Ghost Protocol' had been evoked. They were on their own. Alone. Just the four of them. Hunt offered them a chance to walk away and looked at each of them for an answer. She met his gaze with a steady, confident determination. She was not going anywhere until she had dealt with Sidrov, "So? What's the play?" she asked.

They listened intently as Hunt explained what was required of them. They were going to use Wistrom to lead them to Hendricks.

"He can only do that if he has the codes," Brandt said as he casually twiddled his thumbs.

"Or, if he thinks he has them!" Jane shot back with a deep frown. She had not intended for her words to come out quite that way, but damn him—this was important. This was for Hanaway. She continued to frown, irritated with him, but more irritated with herself for liking the cadence of his voice. She turned her attention back to Hunt and focused.

The rest of the play was explained and Jane squared her shoulders with determination. _For Hanaway_, she reminded herself.

Brandt asked how they were to go about taking the codes from Moreau, "We take her out," Jane answered him with cold conviction. It had to be done. It would be done. In her mind there was no other option, which is why Jane looked at Benji with a frown when he called Muroe Sutrov an asset. Benji—of all people who were there when Hanaway died!

Only to have Hunt say the exact same thing a moment later. The anger and frustration was written all over her face. An asset! Were they just supposed to hang onto her and keep her? After what she had done to Hanaway. It was as if Hunt had read her mind.

"She'll answer for Hanaway, but it has to be when I say. After we get Hendricks," he said as he approached her. She held his gaze for a moment wanting to object, but she knew he was right and silently agreed.

It was time to prepare for the mission. The four of them moved about the train car gathering everything they would need.


	4. Chapter 4

Brandt landed on the floor of the train car with a thud. The lights came on and he blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted. He stood up slowly. She was the first thing that caught his attention. Her jaw firmly set and a gun pointed right at him. He wanted to smile—to at least say hello and introduce himself, but no words came to him. Hunt introduced her and the other man in the room. Carter—her name was Carter. Last name, no doubt. He watched her lower the gun and turn away from him. Suddenly, he wished he did not look like a drowned cat coming in from the rain.

Agent Dunn handed him a towel. He took it gratefully as he tried to make the best of his appearance. A video played in the background and a mad man rambled on about nuclear war and the end of the world. Brandt, however, could not take his eyes off Agent Carter. She watched the screen and he took the opportunity to move in a little closer—besides he could see the screen better from her corner of the car.

He walked past her, moving to lean against the wall beside her and nearly jumped out of his skin as a panel slid open behind him. Brandt barely held back a list of expletives. She had noticed. Of course, she had noticed. How could she not have? Folding his arms he decided to return to his original position, spare himself any more embarrassment and actually pay attention to what Hunt was saying.

"The Secretary is dead," Hunt said to the team and the reality of his death hit Brandt. He had worked with the Secretary for a few years now. He had been a good politician and a great man. Brandt frowned as he thought of his family, who by now had no doubt been informed of their loss.

Hunt continued to speak and Brandt slowly forced his mind away from thoughts of the Secretary's family and back to the topic at hand.

They were on their own now Hunt had explained, and if they wanted out they were to speak now or forever hold their peace…more or less. Brandt took a breath to speak—not to ask out—no, but to ask a question. However, the look on Hunt's face silenced him and he simply nodded to indicate that he was in.

He listened as Hunt explained their mission, which in Brandt's view had a few loopholes. For starters, how were they expecting this man, Wistrom, to lead them to Hendricks if he did not have the codes? He said as much earning him a frown and a curt response from Agent Carter. Damn, even when she frowned she was beautiful.

Hunt continued to lay out their mission. This time Brandt did pose his question, "And uh, how do you propose we snatch the codes form Moreau?"

"We take her out," Jane responded. There was something in the way she said that; something in her tone that struck him.

"Take her out, but discreetly," Benji added, almost as if to remove some of the tension that had filled the small car.

"Discreetly?" Brandt asked. How was that even possible? He watched her as she looked from Benji to Hunt when they called Moreau an asset. Her expression carried a mix of emotions. Anger and frustration. Hunt mentioned someone named Hanaway and he saw her grow tenser. So, the agent that had been killed—Hanaway—he had meant something to her. Brandt watched as she engaged in a silent battle with Hunt before she turned her head and Hunt ordered them to gather what they needed from the car. With one last look at her Brandt stood up and began to carry out Hunt's orders.

The train stopped a short time later. They managed to fill quite a few duffle bags—more than Hunt would have wanted, but Benji insisted on a number of electronics going with them.

Brandt and Agent Carter remained in the car and tossed the bags to Hunt and Benji below. He finally found his voice just as they finished up, "We were not properly introduced," he said.

"William Brandt," he extended a hand and watched her hesitate. She looked from his hand to his face before she accepted his handshake.

Her hands were soft, but the grasp was firm as she shook it, "Jane Carter. Welcome to the team, Brandt."

With a nod she dropped his hand and grabbed the last duffle bag. She jumped down from the car with ease. Brandt smiled to himself. _Jane._ Funny how she made even a simple name seem just that much more beautiful. He took a breath and followed her lead as he too jumped down from the car and headed off with the team.


	5. Chapter 5

Dubai was hot and humid. Brandt sat at the back of the jeep, his ass sore from the constant bumping around. He opted to sit behind Hunt, who was in the driver's seat, because it gave him the best view of Jane.

He was not sure how this plan of theirs was going to work. Fooling Moreau and Wistrom into thinking they were going to be in the same hotel room was pretty farfetched. Hunt explained how they were going to give the hotel a face lift, thereby fooling each party into thinking they were in the other's room. Jane would double as Moreau and Benji would double as Wistrom.

Brandt wondered what role he played and voiced his concern, "And ah—what am I doing?"

"You? You're the helper!" Benji informed him with a little more glee than necessary.

"...Helper," he repeated with far less enthusiasm. Still, Brandt was not seeing how they were supposed to change the infrastructure of this building and hopefully fool their targets, but this was an IMF team. He was sure they knew what they were doing. At least, he hoped.

Once in the hotel, Jane went to collect the dry cleaning and the remaining three went to the room to begin setting up.

Brandt set the timer on his phone, "34 minutes to door knock," he said as he set it down. It was then that Benji, trying his best to make it sound like this was not a huge obstacle, informed them that the only way they were going to access the server room was from the outside. They needed access to that server. NO access meant they did not control the cameras or the elevators.

Someone would literally have to scale the tallest building in Dubai from the outside to get to that room. That someone being Hunt, obviously. Seeing as Benji was needed at the computer and, well, Brandt was not about to volunteer. After all he was just the helper!

Hunt was trying to think up solutions that would avoid him scaling the building and Brandt kept reminding him how little time they had left. It was then that Benji revealed one of his inventions—a pair of gloves that allowed suction onto the glass, which enabled Hunt to climb. As Benji explained how they worked, Brandt located exactly where the server was located and did a quick comm check with Hunt.

"26 minutes to door knock," he informed Hunt. If they were going to do this then Hunt needed to get moving. Reluctantly, Hunt made his way over to the window and began his climb upward. Brandt repositioned himself in the room keeping his eye on the clock.

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><p>Jane picked up the dry cleaning and confirmed to Ethan on the comm that she would be right up. Smiling she opened the door to their suite and was surprised to see only Brandt and Benji inside standing in front of a window—or, where a window used to be.<p>

"Where's Ethan?" She asked, but even as the question left her lips she knew the answer. Benji pointed outside and her suspicions were confirmed.

"You've got to be kidding me," she said with a shake of her head.

She set the dry cleaning down. There was nothing they could do but wait for Hunt to reach server level. Brandt kept to the countdown and she allowed herself a moment to admire the way his forearms looked with his sleeves rolled up.

The moment ended abruptly, however, when Hunt announced that he reached the sever. She was just about to relax when she heard him groan followed by a thud against the window. He slipped—of that she was sure.

"22 minutes to door knock," came Brandt's steady voice.

"The countdown is not helping," Ethan's winded reply came through the comm link. Jane turned to Brandt and gave him a stern look.

"I'm just saying," he mumbled, but he backed away from the computer all the same.

Finally Ethan's voice appeared again to let them know that he was in and that he located the server. Once they had control of the elevators and cameras, she tossed Benji what they needed.

"Time to re-decorate!" They set about changing the numbers on the doors and left Brandt on the lookout for Wistrom and Moreau.

They barely started on the doors when Brandt announced Moreau was there ahead of schedule. Jane froze and sighed in frustration. She was here in the building. With a quick glance to Benji she headed back to the suite. Ethan was still not back. He should have been back by now.

"Where is Ethan?" she found herself asking for a second time as she slipped out of her jacket and kicked off her shoes.

Jane went to stand by Brandt at the window just in time to see Ethan attached to a rope a few floors over from where they were.

"You're line's not long enough!" Brandt yelled at him. She watched as Ethan ran back along the building and out their line of vision.

The next thing they saw was Ethan as he sailed through the air in an attempt to land through the window. Jane and Brandt backed up to give him space. Brandt stretched his arm out behind to make sure Jane was at a safe distance. To Jane's horror, however, instead of sailing into the open space, Ethan overshot his target and hit the window frame. With no concern for his own safety, Brandt lunged forward and grabbed hold of Ethan.

Jane had no idea how she did it, but before she knew what had happened she too had lunged forward to catch Brandt. One hand held firmly onto his pant leg and the other grabbed hold of the carpet. Her forearm ached from the weight of both men and her muscles began to shake. She was not about to let go. They would either pull Ethan in or the three of them would go through that window, but she was not going to let go.

By some miracle Ethan was able to climb over Brandt and into the room. Brandt, who had been hanging half out the window, pushed himself back into the room and she let go of his pants. The three of them sat on the floor as they panted and looked at each other, shocked that they were still alive.

Benji walked in and let out an exhale, "Ooh! That was not easy…"

He took one look at the three of them sitting on the floor, "What did I miss?" Jane could not help but let out a small chuckle.


	6. Chapter 6

Jane was still on the floor catching her breath after that near death experience through the window. She looked up and saw Brandt stand in front of her with his hand outstretched to help her up. Gratefully, she took his hand and he pulled her up to her feet.

"Thanks," he said with a small smile that caused her stomach to do that little flip that was becoming all too familiar to her whenever Brandt got too close.

"Anytime!" she responded with her own gentle smile and let go of his hand.

She put the moment in the back of her mind and made her way over to one of the briefcases, "Sit," she said to him and pointed to the nearest chair.

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><p>Brandt lay on his back panting, the adrenaline still rushing through his body from saving Hunt. He glanced at Jane as she chuckled at Benji's words. Truth be told she saved Hunt, too—she had saved both of them. He had no idea how she managed to hold onto them. The woman was quite simply…amazing. He jumped to his feet and held out a hand to help her up.<p>

"Thanks," he said with a smile. It was the least he could say. He owed her his life.

She returned his smile before she let go of his hand and instructed him to sit in a chair. Brandt watched her pull out a contact case. Carefully, she removed a contact and held it on the tip of her finger.

She made a move toward his eye, but he dodged her hand and pushed his chair back, "What are you doing?" he asked curiously.

Intrigued, Jane bit her bottom lip in an attempt to not laugh at his reaction, "Relax. It's part of your job as the helper, remember?"

"Sticking something in my eye is supposed to help?" he asked somewhat frustrated and she moved in again. This time he caught her wrist.

"Stop being such a baby," she eyed him and he sighed. Defeated, he shook his hands and straightened up in preparation.

She shook her head slightly and chuckled. "Look up" she instructed. She held his eye open and leaned in to slowly insert the contact, "The lens might be a little uncomfortable."

She smelt good. _Did all women smell this good?_ Brandt wondered. He never really paid attention before. She explained the purpose of the contact and what it could do. She pulled away far too soon for his liking. He closed his eye briefly to give the contact a chance to settle.

"Alright?" She asked.

"I can't see out of one eye, but…alright," Brandt said.

She held up a paper showing him how to activate the shutter letting him know the copies would be printed out into the briefcase she would be carrying. He stood behind her as they compared the original copy to the printed out version and noted how the numbers had gone from being in ascending order to random order. She turned her head and he caught her eye before she put the papers down and moved to the other side of the room.

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><p>She could not help but notice the exact shade of blue his eyes were as she inserted the contact. Her stomach had stopped flipping and had just settled into a nervous knot from being so close to him.<p>

Taking a step back she held up a copy of a paper and asked him to blink twice to take the picture. She grabbed the printout and explained how the copied version would differ from the original thus giving Wistrum counterfeit launch codes. He stood behind her—far too close behind her. Turning her head, her eyes locked with his for a moment, which caused her pulse to quicken. She looked away quickly and moved to where she had left her jacket before slipping it back on.

This was ridiculous. She was not some teenager with a crush on the boy next door. She was a fully grown woman and they were on a mission. A mission that would in moments bring Moreau closer to her than ever before. Determination filled her and she pushed all thoughts of William Brandt to the back of her mind.

* * *

><p>Wistrom arrived ahead of schedule and he was with someone. Hunt brought the laptop over and Brandt was able to identify cryptographer. This was not just any cryptographer, it was Lisenker—the man responsible for redesigning Russian's nuclear security after the Cold War.<p>

"He's here to authenticate the launch codes!" Jane said from across the room.

"We are blown," Brant said and a feeling of dread came over him. The cryptographer would take one look at the codes and realize they were fake. Hunt began to pace back and forth as he formed an alternative plan. He instructed Benji to delay Wistrom and the cryptographer.

Brant was confident that Ethan would come up with something secure. He could not believe his hears when he heard Hunt ask Benji to reprogram the brief case, so that instead of printing out counterfeit launch codes, a copy of the codes would be printed out. An exact copy of them!

"What?" Jane said and she sounded just as shocked as Brandt felt. What was Ethan thinking? He had to talk some sense into him.

"You can't do that," Brandt said.

"Ethan wait! Hang on now. Hang on just a second! You are talking about handing over active nuclear launch codes to Wistrom?"

"Reprogram the case," Ethan said to Benji as if he had not heard a word Brandt and Jane had said. Benji stood to get the case and Brandt placed himself in front of it as he blocked both Ethan and Benji from reaching it. He had to make both of them see logic.

"Stop! Stop!" He said holding out his hands to Benji and Ethan.

"Listen to what you're saying," Brandt continued, "You are fixating! You are not thinking clearly!"

Hunt continued to ignore him and took a step forward to reach for the case, but Brandt was faster. He grabbed the case and held it behind him out of the open window.

"It's not going to happen! I won't let it." No, there was too much to risk and he could not stand here and allow these codes to fall into Wistrom's hands.

"Brandt, use your head," Hunt responded calmly, "The mission is not the codes. The mission is Hendricks." If that was the case then they should just give the false codes to Hendricks and allow it to play out. Brandt said as much to Ethan.

All calm left Hunt's voice as he responded and told Brandt that if they lost Hendricks today he would only find another way to get the codes and there would be no one there to stop him. This had to be done today and this was the only way to do it.

"Give me the case," Ethan said as he took a step closer. Brandt in turn took a step back closer to the edge of the window and held the case out further.

"Nothing can be left to chance," he told Ethan, "You said that!"

It was then that Ethan challenged Brandt. Challenged him to tell Ethan that there was no other way Hendricks could get the codes if they let him go. That if they lost him there was not another avenue that Hendricks could use. If there was indeed no other way then Ethan was willing to abort the mission. Brandt was an analyst and it took him less than fifteen seconds to think of at least three other ways the codes could be accessed. He did not want to admit it, but Ethan was right.

* * *

><p>Wistrom had arrived early with a Polish cryptographer at his side, who was going to be able to verify the launch codes. <em>We're fucked!<em> Jane thought, though Brant expressed her thoughts a little more eloquently.

Ethan spoke rapidly now and suggested that they change the play and hand over the real nuclear codes to Wistrom. He asked Benji how long it would take him to reprogram the brief case.

Disbelief struck Jane at his words and she placed her hands on her hips, "What?" she exclaimed as she looked at Hunt as if he had just grown a second head. She knew the man was unorthodox, but this was going too far.

Brandt seemed to be the only one in the room who shared her thoughts. His voice took on a tone of slight panic as he tried to talk some sense into Hunt. Jane watched both men as her eyes moved from one to the other.

When Ethan reached for the case Brandt grabbed it and held it behind him. He stood near the open window. _Too close_, she thought as he threatened to drop the case if that was what it took to stop this mission. Ethan, on the other hand, spoke calmly.

"Failure to a terrorist is just a rehearsal for success. We lose Hendricks today. He shows up somewhere tomorrow. He finds another way with no IMF to stop him. Now, Brandt, give me the case," Hunt said as he took another step closer to him.

Brandt took the same step back, which placed him dangerously closer to the edge. Jane inhaled sharply as he did. Now it was Ethan's voice that took on a tone of panic as he questioned Brandt whether or not there was another way the codes could be accessed by Wistrom if they lost him today.

Again, Jane's eyes moved from one man to the other. Hunt was right. She knew he was right, but she understood Brandt's point of view. If they did give Wistrom the codes and then lost him, that would be a disaster—a nuclear disaster, to be specific. Countless deaths would be on their hands.

However, they could not risk him acquiring the codes somewhere else on another day, where they did not have any means to stop him. She watched Brandt's expression slowly settle into one of acknowledgement at Ethan's words.

A sound came from across the room followed by a flash of sparks. Something had gone wrong with the masks. Completely ruined.

"We go without the masks!" Ehtan said as he ignored Jane's protests to the contrary. "We have no choice!"

"Ethan! You would be walking in on Moreau unarmed! Face first. Literally!" Jane said with a tone of worry in her voice.

"How do we know they have met?" Ethan responded.

"How do we know they haven't?" Jane said the worry in her voice now clearer.

"It doesn't matter!" Brandt finally said, "Damn it!"

He handed over the case over to Ethan reluctantly, "Here. We have no choice." Hunt took the case from him and tossed it to Benji in one smooth motion.

Benji started on the codes and Ethan and Brandt put on their jackets and dressed up. He felt anxious. Everything had gone wrong from the moment they had entered the hotel. First accessing the server, then Hendricks had shown up with a cryptographer, and now the masks were a no-go. Brandt, Hunt and Carter were taking a huge risk.

Jane. He glanced at her as she took the case with the codes from Benji. He buttoned up his jacket and approached her.

"Stay safe," he said just loud enough for her to hear. She nodded.

"You too," she muttered under her breath and wondered whether he heard her. He did.

"Time to go," came Ethan's curt voice. Brandt squared his shoulders and followed him out of the room. Jane went the opposite way and continued down the hall.


	7. Chapter 7

Ethan and Brandt ran down a few flights of stairs before they reached their desired floor. They stood outside Moreau's door and Ethan knocked.

"Goggles!" Brandt whispered the reminder. In all the commotion Ethan still had the goggles he had donned when scaling the building around his neck.

"What if they have met?" Brandt asked Ethan. He was more concerned about Jane than he was for himself and Ethan. If this went wrong, she would be dealing with Hendricks. Hunt did not respond and instead he opened the door to the suite.

Standing in front of them in a black suit was a slender blonde. She watched both of them carefully as they entered the room complete with four of her security men. This only reminded Brandt that they left Jane to go at this alone with no security of her own.

"Which one of you is Wistrom?" Moreau asked, her English bearing the trace of a slight Russian accent. She didn't know—they never met! This was the first thing to go right all day and Brandt allowed himself a moment of relief.

Hunt introduced himself as Wistrom and Moreau's security team set about frisking them and making sure they were clean.

Moreau sat watching, "Sit," she said to them once her security detail was done and indicated the two empty chairs opposite her.

"Where are my codes?" Hunt began.

"Where are my diamonds?" Moreau responded with a slight smile.

"Close by," Ethan responded.

"No diamonds. No codes," she stated matter-of-factly.

"No codes. No diamonds," Hunt responded without faze.

This was not going well and Brandt could tell she was losing patience with this ping pong back and forth conversation.

"Kill this one!" she said with a casual flick of her hand in his direction. One of her security men shifted and Brandt was on instant alert ready to defend himself and disarm the man.

It did not come to that as Hunt quickly spoke up and informed Moreau that they had not come alone; that back up was waiting for them outside the door.

"How good is your backup?" she asked in attempt to call his bluff.

"The best," Brandt responded without hesitation.

"Hmmm," Moreau said with a cocky laugh, "I have killed the best." She was referring to Hanaway, of that he was sure. Jane could hear this; she could hear all of it. _Damn it!_ He thought.

The contact lens was driving him insane. His eye kept itching and he used his thumb to rub at it as nonchalantly as he possibly could. Moreau watched him closely as she carried out a conversation with Hunt.

Moreau instructed the papers be handed over and one of her security guards placed the open case on the table. Brandt reached in and slowly pulled out the papers complete with launch codes. He gradually inspected each one and blinked twice to capture the images that were then being printed out into the briefcase that Jane had with her.

The contact in his eye rapidly became more uncomfortable. Brandt's eye began to burn and tear up. He would rather risk the operation and rip the damn thing off. He scratched his eyebrow in an attempt to relieve some of the irritation, while he continued to scan the information page by page. Moreau continued to watch him carefully as anticipation filled the room. He cursed internally as his eye began to twitch.

Brandt finished up the last page and nodded to Ethan, "We're good," he said and set the papers back down on the table.

It was then that Hunt placed the call to a waiting Benji to bring in the diamonds. Upon exchanged Moreau picked one diamond for closer inspection. It was at that moment that Jane's voice filled the comm link and informed them that Wistrom had the codes and was on the move.

Satisfied with her payment, Moreau poured the diamonds into her purse, "It was a pleasure doing business with you," she said as picked up the codes and held them out to Brandt.

Brandt nodded and leaned in to take them from her, but at the last moment she pulled them away. She looked directly into his eyes and spotted the circuits over his pupil, "KILL HIM!" she shouted in Russian, and her security team was on them within seconds.

It had been a while since Brandt fought hand-to-hand, but his training came back to him like second nature. His hand made contact with the enemy and his body knew what to do. But, as they fought off the guards, Moreau made her escape.


	8. Chapter 8

_I can do this_, Jane told herself. She moved a plant off the table to make the room look neater. Jane always cleaned when she got nervous. What if they had met? What if as soon as she opened that door Hendricks knew she was not Moreau? What would happen to Ethan…to Brandt? He was just as analyst, after all. She placed her worries elsewhere as a knock sounded at the door. Jane took a deep breath and straightened her suit.

_For Hanaway_, she reminded herself as she went to open it. Jane held her breath as the men entered and slowly closed the door behind them. She turned to face them and over the comms, she heard Moreau ask Brandt and Hunt for Wistrom.

Jane smiled as their dumb luck. It had worked! She proceeded to imitate Moreau's accent and posed the same questions to Wistrom and Lisenker. Wistorm stepped forward and extended his hand, "I admire your work."

She shook it and offered the men a seat. Jane continued to take queues from the real Moreau, "You have my payment?"

"When I see the codes," Wistrom responded. A knock sounded at the door, which caused him to stand in alarm.

"Not to worry," Jane said as she raised her hands in a gesture of innocence to Wistrom, "Come in," she called out and Benji came in wheeling a cart.

Having Benji in the room even for just a moment offered Jane a small sense of comfort. "I thought we could have tea." Wistrom gave Benji a quick once over and sat back down.

Jane remained silent as she listened in on the exchange between Moreau, Ethan and Brandt.

She heard Moreau laugh a cold confident laugh, "I have killed the best," Moreau said. Jane's jaw clenched and her lips narrowed in anger. She was going to make her pay. Pay for what she has done and for gloating about it.

"Would you care for some sugar?" Benji asked Wistrom and Lisenker as he continued to serve them. His voice brought Jane back to the mission at hand. She pulled out the briefcase and put it on the table between them. Wistrom in turn placed a small pouch on top of it.

Jane took the bag, opened it, and poured some of the diamonds onto her palm before she returned them to the pouch and placed it on the table, where Benji could easily reach it. Meanwhile, Wistrom fiddled with the briefcase,

"Is there a problem?" She asked casually, but she knew full well exactly what transpired.

"It's locked," Wistrom replied clearly frustrated. She assumed an air of unawareness, while Brant captured images of all the codes. She apologized to Wistrom and stood to collect the briefcase from him as Benji collected the diamonds.

"There must be a key. One moment," Jane excused herself and took the case to the other side of the suite to give Brandt some more time to finish what he needed to do. She remembered using one of those contact lenses herself and it irritated her eye from time to time. She hoped Brandt kept it together.

She returned a moment later, "My mistake. It is a combination. Not a key!" She was about to open the case when Wistrom pulled it away from her. He insisted she tell him the combination.

Jane returned to her seat and complied. "Zero," she waited for him to finish setting the first number.

"Zero," she held back a smile watched him set the second.

"Zero" she finished unable to keep the smiled she held back any longer. Wistrom opened the case, pulled out the documents and handed them over to Lisenker.

_We are almost there_, Jane thought to herself as she took a sip of her tea. She watched as Lisenker verified the codes. Once he was done Lisenker nodded at Wistrom to confirm that everything was in order. The two men got up and left the room without a further glance or word to Jane.

"It was a pleasure doing business with—" but they had slammed the door before she could fish.

She needed to inform Ethan, "Wistrom has the launch codes. He is on the move," Jane spoke into the comm. She went about gathering up her things ready to join Benji, who waited in their suite.

Before she could finish though Ethan's voice filled her ears, "Moreau is on the move!" he yelled.

Jane's heart rate accelerated and she immediately sprung into action, "I've got her!" she said as she slipped off her shoes in haste. This was it. There was no chance she was going to allow Moreau to escape.

"Jane! She is an asset. I need her alive!" Ethan's voice sounded in the comms again.

"Acknowledge…ACKNOWLEDGE!" But Jane ignored him. Now was not the time to talk. She needed to get to Moreau before she got away.


	9. Chapter 9

Jane came out of the stairwell and into another hallway moments later to cut her off and found herself face to face with Moreau. Just seeing the blonde filled her with an intense rage and she charged forward sending a fist straight into Moreau's jawline.

Moreau was of a smaller frame, but she knew how to fight. It did not matter though because Jane was better. A short scuffle later Moreau pulled out a gun, but Jane managed to disarm her fairly easily. Jane stood up and pointed the weapon at her opponent, who was still on the floor.

She wanted to shoot her. Her body and emotions screamed at her to shoot Moreau the same way she had shot Hanaway. Ethan was right though—she was an asset and they needed her.

"Get up!" She snapped at the blonde who rose to her feet in silence. Jane kept the gun pointed at her back.

"Walk!" She instructed and pushed Moreau back towards their room.

Jane kicked the suite door open and shoved Moreau into the room before she forced her into a chair, "Sit down," she said through clenched teeth.

"Watch her," Jane said and handed the gun to an alarmed Benji.

"Why me?" He asked, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Because if I do it, I'll kill her," she replied and meant it.

It took all her self-control not to put a bullet through the woman's head. She could not even be in the same room with her as she walked past Benji and took Moreau's bag to the bedroom to look through it. Her hands shook with anger and she paused for a moment to look at them.

_Calm down, Jane_.

She straightened up and started doing a few breathing exercises to calm herself. A moment later she heard a loud thud from outside the door. She gradually walked out of the bedroom and spotted Benji face down on the floor. Moreau reached down to remove the gun from his grasp.

Jane charged at her and sent both of them crashing onto one of the coffee tables. Moreau drove her elbow into Jane's face and the blow sent her backwards. The act gave Moreau enough time to stand up and begin throwing anything within her reach. Moreau found a corkscrew and lunged at Jane as she slashed through the air and Jane dodged her. With a calculated move, Jane managed to once again disarm Moreau.

A well placed kick to her abdomen sent Moreau flying and she landed on the floor hard. The gun was within her reach and she grabbed it to point it at Jane.

Jane pounced on her and they struggled for the gun. The muzzle was pointed upward toward the ceiling when the first gunshot went off.

* * *

><p>Brandt and Ethan had taken down most of Moreau's security men. Only two men remained standing and as Ethan talked to Benji to find out Wistrom's whereabouts. Ethan asked Benji to stall him, while Brandt took down the two men with a few of his favourite moves from his training days.<p>

When the last man hit the ground he looked up to find Hunt looking at him, "Find Lisenker," Ethan said and Brant nodded as he left the room.

Brandt found Lisenker by the elevators with two bullet wounds to the chest.

"Benji?" Brandt spoke into the comm, "I've got Leonid by the elevators. He's been shot." He barely heard Benji's response before he picked up sounds of a commotion. He knew that Moreau was in the room with Benji and Jane, so he decided instead to focus on the man in front of him.

Lisenker was still alive. Barely. He began to choke on his own blood, "Hey, hey! Stay with me, stay with me," he said to the man. Brandt applied pressure to the wounds in an attempt to stop the bleeding, but it was no use.

Leonid gradually slipped away in front of his eyes, "No, no, no, no, no," he chanted softly. That was when he heard it. A gunshot.

Brandt's head whipped round at the direction of the sound and in that moment his heart stopped. _Jane!_ He was up on his feet within seconds and sprinted towards the room. He heard more gunshots ring out as he approached and pulled out his own gun as he entered.

The two women were fighting for control of the gun. He was unable to get a clear shot of Moreau, so he held his gun steady. He noticed their proximity to the open window and before he knew it the gun was in Moreau's hands. She pointed it at Jane who had dropped down onto all fours.

"JANE, NO!" He yelled out as panic and dread filled him. On her hands and knees, Jane kicked backwards and her foot connected with Moreau, which sent the woman flying out of the Burj Khalifa and on to her death below.

Brandt's eyes widened and he slowly lowered his gun. He watched as Jane rose to her feet and out of his peripheral he could see Benji slowly pull himself up into a sitting position on the floor. For a moment, all Brandt could do was stare at her. She was alive. He had only known her for a short time, but in that moment he realized just how important it was to him that she was alive.

He gradually walked towards her. Brandt stood in front of her and words failed him. Instead, he lifted his hand and gently placed it on her neck. He just wanted to touch her—to physically feel that she was still there. That she was alive. He could feel her rapid pulse beat beneath his fingertips.

Jane placed her hand over his and nodded at him, "I'm okay."

"Well, I'm not," Benji's voice pierced the air and he groaned as he rubbed the back of his head.

Still unable to actually say anything to Jane, Brandt moved to Benji and crouched down beside him, "Don't try to get up just yet," he said as he felt the back of Benji's head, "You have a pretty sizeable lump forming back there."

"I'll get some ice," Jane said and with that she left the room.

* * *

><p>Jane fought for control of the gun. She was aware of how close they were to the window. It was either give up control of this fight or she and Moreau were going to go through that window. She let go and let the other woman think she had the upper hand. Jane dropped down to her hands and knees and heard Brandt's voice yell out her name seconds before she used all the strength to kick back at Moreau.<p>

The gun went off as Moreau screamed falling back out through the open window. It was done. Sabine Moreau was dead.

Her legs shook as she stood and locked eyes with Brandt. She stared at his stunned blue eyes and saw a look on his face that she was unable to read. He held her gaze as he walked towards her, reached out and placed a hand gently against her neck. Her already rapidly beating pulse increased its speed at his touch.

Brandt did not say anything, but he did not need to. The colour had drained from his face and his eyes were still wide set and full of concern—concern for her, she realized, and the thought caused a warm feeling to come over her. She gently lifted her own hand and placed it over his, smiling slightly as she nodded at him.

"I'm okay," she said softly.

"Well I'm not," said Benji from his position on the floor. Brandt stepped away from her to attend to him and she watched him for a moment before volunteering to get some ice for the bruise on Benji's head.

Truthfully, she needed a moment to herself. Her emotions were racing. She had killed the woman, who had taken Hanaway away from her. She thought she would feel better once she had, but she didn't. Then there was Brandt—how could she feel the things she was feeling for someone she had known for less than a week?

Jane grabbed some ice from the ice machine and returned back to the room, evermore confused and lost.


	10. Chapter 10

An hour had passed by. Brandt had ordered a bottle of whisky for himself, Benji, and Jane. He still had not said a word to her and instead talked to Benji as they waited to hear back from Ethan.

Benji was on his second glass. As for Brandt, he was on his fourth…or was it his fifth? He didn't care. He added more ice to his glass and poured himself another, while he ignored Jane's glare of disapproval.

She had killed Moreau. Yes, they had lost a valuable asset, but it was more than that. Now, she had a death on her hands…on her conscience. Obviously she had killed before, but it was part of her job as an IMF agent. This was different though—this kill was personal and a personal loss stayed with you. It changed you and changed how you viewed everything.

He should know. It was a personal kill that changed the game for him. There was a type of guilt that latched on and never let go. The same guilt that had you unable to look at your own reflection in the mirror the same way again. He glanced at Jane. He didn't want that for her and he knew it was coming whether she realized it or not. He shook his head as he downed the rest of his drink and reached for the bottle again.

The door opened and Hunt walked in looking like he had been though the ringer.

"Ethan! Are you okay?" Jane asked as she stood and took a step towards him.

"Oh, you don't look good at all, mate," Benji supplied.

"He's gone. We've lost the codes," Ethan said sounding physically spent.

The room went silent as they all took in the news.

"Jane killed Moreau." The words spilled out of Brandt's mouth before he could stop them.

Hunt looked at Jane for a moment before he spoke again, "I am going to go and get cleaned up," he said and made his way to the bathroom.

The door closed behind Ethan and Jane was glared at Brandt once more. "Asshole," she muttered under breath.

* * *

><p>Jane didn't know what was going on with Brandt. Besides an occasional glance in her direction she might as well not have been in the room. He was not saying much, but when he did speak it was to Benji.<p>

Then there was the drinking. He was on his fourth glass and currently pouring himself another. She clenched her jaw and glared at him as he poured before she turned her attention back to the open window from where she had kicked Sabine Moreau.

She had expected to feel satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment, or even a spot of joy for having killed the woman who killed Hanaway. Instead, she felt numb and empty. Hanaway was still dead. Moreau was dead and nothing had really changed, except that they had lost an asset.

She honestly had not planned on taking her out just yet. After all, Jane had disarmed her in the hallway and brought her to the room to wait for the rest of the team, but then Sabine had attacked her and she did what she had to do.

Jane stole another glance at Brandt and held back a frustrated sigh. Why wouldn't he speak to her? An hour had gone by and he had not said a word. She wanted him to say something…anything!

She should not care that he was not talking to her, but she did and there was no denying it. Jane had to figure out what was going on with her—with her feelings for him. It was not fair to Hanaway that she was attracted to someone so soon after he was gone. Not after what he had said to her with his dying breath. She looked down at her hands, her mind and heart ridden with guilt.

The door opened and Ethan walked in covered in cuts and bruises. Jane hopped to her feet relieved he was back, but worried about his health. He looked like he was barely holding himself up. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Oh, you don't look good at all, mate." Trust Benji to chime in with the obvious.

Hunt informed them that he had lost Hendricks as well as the nuclear codes. Jane's stomach dropped. No codes. No Sabine Moreau. What was going to happen now, she wondered.

"Jane killed Moreau," Brandt's voice penetrated through the air from across the room.

Jane clenched her jaw and barely contained her anger at his words! How dare he? As if she had not done it in self-defense. As if she had killed her the moment she instantly laid eyes on her. Would he rather the woman have blown a bullet through her brain instead?

Plus, how dare he just blurt that out. Hunt had barely been in the room and in need of medical attention, not an update on the mission. She met Ethan's gaze steadily before he excused himself to go get cleaned up in the bathroom.

"Asshole," Jane muttered and didn't bother to look at him. She moved to stand over the sink in the corner of the room and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was a mess. She dampened the nearest wash cloth with cold water and rubbed it on the back of her neck.

* * *

><p>Brandt watched as she cleaned up. He stood with his hands on the back of the chair and he knew he shouldn't pursue the topic anymore, but he needed to address it for her own sake.<p>

"What happened with Moreau, Jane?" He said barely keeping his voice level as he spoke.

"She couldn't help us with anything," Jane shot back. She would be damned if he was about to blame her for what happened.

"Yeah? So, let's throw her off the building!" He finally snapped.

"I didn't throw her!" Jane said as turned to face him.

Brandt ignored her as he continued, "Let's throw her off the building!"

He approached her and the hold on his temper broke, "SHE WAS NOT THE MISSION, JANE," he said and slammed his hand on the table hard enough that it made Benji jump.

"THE MISSION WAS TO TRACK THE FILE BACK TO HENDRICKS. WHO'S IN THE WIND! NUCLEAR LAUNCH CODES!" He yelled directly to her face now.

"Maybe you did not notice the gun she had in her hand!" Jane said as she tilted her head up and met his gaze, her eyes flashed with anger.

"Oh, and you did not notice the open window?" He shot back and walked away from her to sit back down.

"She is dead! There is nothing that can be done about that now. I lost us an asset, but I did not blow the entire mission!" Her voice had started to rise in anger.

"What is the matter with you! We are talking about nuclear war here!" Brandt shot back

"I am not the only one to blame for things that went wrong." She turned to face Benji, who sat quietly at the table and watched the heated exchange.

"And how the hell did the Russians find us?" She asked as she leaned closer to him.

"Why are you asking me?" Benji responded in surprise.

"Because you're communications!" Jane snapped and she slammed her hand on Benji's laptop snapping it shut, "You're in charge of covering our tracks!"

"I am sorry. Are you trying to say that I somehow—" Beji started, but was cut off by Brandt.

"You can not afford to make mistakes like that now, Benji," he said, "You are not a technician anymore. You're a field agent."

"And you're just an analyst? Right? RIGHT!" A fourth voice joined the conversation. It was Ethan. He walked out from the bathroom and his tone was harsh and angry as he spoke to Brandt, "Who are you really, Brandt?"

Brandt was confused, "What are you asking?" He said as he looked up at Ethan from his seated position, a frown on his face.

"What am I asking? Let me see if I can put it another way," and with that Hunt pulled out a gun and pointed it directly at Brandt's head.

It took less than five seconds for Brandt to stand and disarm Ethan, took control of the gun that had been pointed at him, and reserved the weapon at Hunt. Out of the corner of his eye he could see that Jane had raised her weapon and now pointed it at him.

"How does an agent with skills like that, end up an analyst?" Hunt asked him. In response, Brant lowered the gun and removed the chamber. Jane lowered her weapon and he cast a glance her way before he answered.

"Well, we all have our secrets," he said with his head lowered before he handed the gun back to Hunt, "Don't we Ethan?"

Ethan took the gun and nodded as he approached him, "You tell me yours. I'll tell you mine," Ethan said. Brandt looked at him and then over at Jane before he let out a frustrated breath and moved to lean against a wall. This is not how he had wanted them to find out.

Hunts phone vibrated. He looked at it before he instructed the three of them to sit tight as he went off to make contact with someone he had in the region.

"Change of plan," Ethan called out as he walked through the door and left the three troubled agents alone.


	11. Chapter 11

Jane's eyes shifted from the closed door that Ethan had just walked through to Brandt, who slowly paced back and forth, "Do you care to explain yourself, _Agent_ Brandt?" she said bitterly and placed an emphasis on his status because that was obviously what he was.

Seeing him disarm Ethan like that had shocked her. Disarming Ethan was one thing, but disarming Ethan Hunt after downing five drinks was another. She realized she knew next to nothing about him. Was he some spy who had infiltrated their group? Deep down inside she knew the answer was no, because even when she held her gun up to him she knew that he was on their side.

She could not help but wonder the same thing Hunt had asked. How was it possible someone so skilled had become an analyst?

He began to talk and Jane slid into one of the empty seats next to Benji as they listened to Brandt. He spoke of an assignment he had been given years ago. A protective detail in Croatia, where he shadowed a married couple. Things had been going smoothly until a hit had been placed on the couple. He wanted to let them know and make them aware of the situation, but orders had denied him that chance. One day, the husband decided to go out for a run and Brandt had followed as expected. He left two of his trusted men to guard the wife.

When the husband and Brandt returned later that morning, he found his men knocked out cold and the man's wife had disappeared. A few days later, the police found what was left of a body…the man's wife.

"That was my last day in the field. I couldn't face another life or death situation after that," Brandt said. His voice was low and full of guilt as he recounted his past. He kept his head down and barely made eye contact with either Jane or Benji.

"What happened to the husband?" Jane asked gently. She wanted nothing more than to reach out and put a comforting hand over his. She could tell he blamed himself and she knew what that was like…to have someone die and feel like you could have done something to stop it.

"Never saw him again…till two days ago in Moscow when the Secretary introduced me to Ethan Hunt," Brandt replied.

Both Benji and Jane sat there in a stunned silence.

"No, that is not what happened," Benji said as he looked from Jane to Brandt, "She left him."

Jane's eyes had not left Brandt's face. She watched him shake his head. He heard those stories too, but he was there. The same way he was there when the Secretary was informed Ethan was in custody for killing six Serbians in cold blood.

_So, that's why he had been in jail_, she thought to herself. Not that she blamed him. As a matter of fact, she understood completely.

Brandt let out a frustrated sigh and came to sit at the table. "Next thing I know I'm on a plane to Dubai, and I am wondering do I tell him?" He turned and looked at her and held her gaze, "How do I tell him? That I am responsible." His voice cracked and Jane's heart ached for him.

He blamed himself for the death of Ethan's wife. Jane let out a long breath as she reached out to place a hand on top of his forearm and gave it a gentle squeeze. There was so much she wanted to say to him. She wanted to tell him that it was not his fault, that he was following orders, that he should not blame himself…but he had lowered his head and would not even meet her gaze. She gave his arm another gentle squeeze and after a moment, he placed his hand on top of hers. He squeezed back before he gently ran his thumb over her knuckles.

* * *

><p>"Do you care to explain yourself, <em>Agent<em> Brandt?" The tone of her voice cut through him. What could he say? What would she think of him once she found out what he had done, what he had done to Ethan?

He swallowed to remove the tightness in his throat and began to explain himself. He told them everything.

Brandt could no longer stand. He sat down at the table between Benji and Jane and told them everything. He forced himself to look at her, "How do I tell him? That I am responsible?"

He hated that his voiced cracked as he spoke. He looked down at the table again. "I could have warned him. I should have warned him. But I didn't and she died."

Her hand was warm as it rested on his forearm. Brandt could not bring himself to meet her gaze. He was scared of what he might see if he looked at her. She squeezed his arm and to his own surprise he felt slightly more comforted. How could a gesture so small bring forth such an emotion? His gaze moved to her hand as she squeezed his forearm for the second time and he gently placed his hand over hers. He gave her a small squeeze of his own.

As if on its own accord, his thumb moved back and forth gently over her knuckles. If Jane minded, she did not say and she did not pull her hand away either.

He liked that.


	12. Chapter 12

Benji drove the jeep to the airport, while Jane sat in the back as she tried to catch an extra twenty minutes of sleep. It was impossible though since the radio was on and Benji sang along off key.

Brandt groaned, "It's too early for this, Benji!"

"Don't blame me. Blame Ethan, he was the one who said to meet him at the airport at six in the morning!" Benji responded in a cheery tone.

"I was not talking about the meeting time. I was talking about your croaking along to the radio," Brandt retorted.

Jane chuckled.

"Croaking! _Croaking!_" Benji exclaimed, "I will have you know I sang in my school choir back in England for four years!"

Jane smiled as Benji defended himself and leaned her head back against the seat. She closed her eyes, tuned out the banter that ensued, and let her thoughts return to the events from the night before when Brandt confessed about his time as an agent.

_The three of them sat around the table in silence. No one really knew what else to say, each lost in their own thoughts. Benji's phone startled them when it vibrated with a message from Ethan. His instructions directed them to meet him at the airport the next morning._

_Benji excused himself moments after the message and left Jane and Brandt alone._

_Jane had no idea why she told him. Maybe it was because he had just told them about Ethan's wife and she understood what he was feeling. Maybe it was because she needed to talk about it. Maybe it was because she felt comfortable telling him. Either way she told him._

"_Agent Hanaway—Trevor Hanaway. He was a great agent. We were…together," Jane shook her head as if to clear it. "It was complicated. I cared about him, I did. We were friends and we were work partners and once in a while we were…together."_

_She poured herself another drink and continued._

"_Trevor though, he wanted more than once in a while. He wanted a solid commitment, not just a physical one, and as much as I felt for him…I couldn't give him the type of relationship he wanted us to have. I did care about him, just not in the way he hoped and wanted me to." Tears began to sting her eyes. If it was possible to make herself love someone she would have made herself love Trevor. Besides being an amazing agent, he was an amazing man. Trevor always treated her well and they enjoyed each other's company when they spent time together…even the sex had been great. Still, she didn't love him and he deserved someone who did. Someone who looked at him they way he looked at her. _

_She took a large gulp from her drink and she continued, "The mission was like one we had done so many times before. Trevor was supposed to get a classified file. A simple intercept. In and out, you know? I was on the train and it was my job to find out who the currier was to let Trevor know. I got a name, gave it to Trevor and he pursued and retrieved the file." Jane's hands shook slightly as the memory of that day came rushing back._

"_There were other people after the file and they chased Trevor, while I went to back him up. I was almost at the rendezvous point when I heard the gunshots over the comm. I pulled out my gun, but when I got there, it as too late. Trevor was already on the ground because Moreau got to him before I did." She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye._

"_I told him that he was going to be okay. I thought that maybe if I believed it hard enough that it would be true. He told me I was beautiful. He apologized, and then…and then he told me that he loved me. It was the last thing he ever said." Her tears fell freely now._

"_It was my op. I put him in the field. And, now here he was dying and telling me that he loved me and I couldn't even say it back to him. I should have said it back."_

"_But that would have been a lie," Brandt interrupted softly._

"_Would it have mattered? Don't you understand? It was my fault he was in that position! I should have run the op better! I should have gotten to him sooner!" Jane's voice broke, "I should have loved him…I did none of that—I failed him in so many ways."_

_Brandt slowly reached out and used his knuckles to wipe the tears away from her cheeks. "No man wants to have a woman tell him she loves him if she doesn't. Not even a man on his death bed. I'm sure he didn't blame you for the mission going the way it did, for not being able to return his feelings, for any of it…you shouldn't blame yourself either, Jane."_

_She shrugged and wiped away the rest of her tears before she slowly pushed back her chair and stood up. "I think I'm going to call it a night. We need to be up early to get to Ethan." _

_Truth of the matter was she just wanted to be alone. Jane worried if she sat there talking to him any longer she would break down even further. He stood up as well, nodded at her, and wished her a good night. _

The motor of the car stopped now. Jane looked out of the window and saw Ethan waiting for them. She slipped on her sunglasses, took a deep breath, and hopped out of the car. She mentally prepared herself for whatever Ethan had in mind. She wanted another chance to do this right and she'd be damned if she faltered in anyway.

* * *

><p>Benji went on about boys' choir, altos and tenors, and God knows what else. Brandt looked into the back seat at Jane, who had her eyes closed. He assumed she was catching a last minute nap before they reached the airport.<p>

Benji's words blended into the background as he remembered the night before when she told him about Hanaway. Brandt didn't want her to kill Moreau because he didn't want her to be burdened with that type of guilt. Little did he know that she had been carrying guilt around with her already.

He had listened quietly as she spoke about her relationship with Trevor Hanaway and about the mission that went wrong. He hated that she felt so responsible.

_Her voice shook and her cheeks were damp from her tears. Brandt wanted to hold her in his arms and comfort her, but that wouldn't have been appropriate. Instead, he wiped the tears from her face and told her the truth…that Hanaway's death was not her fault. Nor was it her fault that she didn't love him._

_There was a part of him that felt relieved that she hadn't returned her love for Hanaway. Brandt knew he was an asshole for even thinking such a thing, but it was the truth. He figured out from the way Ethan had spoken to her about Hanaway and from her determination to get Moreau that there was something between her and the deceased agent. He assumed it was serious. _

_Brandt could tell that she needed to be alone. It was the reason why he didn't stop her when she stood up to leave. He stood up to meet her at eye level. _

"_Goodnight, Jane," he said, his voice had traces of concern._

"_Goodnight…William."His ears pricked up at the sound of his name. It was the first time she had called him by his first name. He hoped it would not be the last. _

"There's Ethan," Benji said as he slowly pulled the car to a stop. He spotted the airplane and whistled, "Check out the jet!"

The three hopped out of the car and Hunt waited for them on the steps of the plane. Ethan had his game face on and the mission was back on. There were bags and bags of supplies that waited to be loaded onto the plane.

"How did you get it?" Jane asked. Brandt wondered the same thing since supplies were hard to come by as ghosts of a disavowed agency.

"Made a friend," Ethan simply replied before he plunged into speech about how they still had a chance to salvage the mission. He emphasized that they had to do it together.

Brandt looked over at Jane before he spoke, "Okay. So, where are we going?"

"India," Hunt said with a smile.

Brant and Jane exchanged glances once more. "India," he repeated before he put on his glasses and boarded the jet.


	13. Chapter 13

Once in the air, Brandt moved and sat opposite Benji so they could run through the new plan.

His part consisted of wearing a magnetic suit that would keep him hovered in the air after he jumped into the computer array to retrieve the satellite coordinates.

_Easy enough, if it wasn't for the twenty five foot drop over a fan with spinning blades while wearing magnets_, Brandt thought sarcastically. It wasn't that Brandt didn't trust Benji, but to be fair, the gloves he gave Ethan to scale that building had malfunctioned halfway through that operation. He said as much to Benji.

"In light of our recent efforts, the technolo—"

"The science is sound," Benji interrupted, "I'd be more worried about the heat!"

Now there was the heat to worry about. This was the first Brandt was hearing about heat. Benji's assurances that he would catch him did nothing to calm Brandt. He looked up and caught Jane staring at him from across the plane before she averted his gaze, "Excuse me," he said to Benji before he stood up and went to sit with Jane.

* * *

><p>Jane sat next to Ethan on the jet, while he scrolled through an iPad to look at pictures of their next target. Brij Nath was a rich Indian businessman, who had the code to a satellite Hendricks needed to launch a nuclear strike. They needed to shut the satellite down. It was the only way to stop Hendricks.<p>

"I get the access code from him," Jane stated matter-of-factly.

Hunt nodded, "One way or another." He did not elaborate and she did not need him to. She knew what he meant. This was not her first time doing one of these missions.

"And if I don't…none of this works." _And I fail, which results in a nuclear war that broke out no thanks to me_, Jane thought.

"You can do this," Ethan said to her with soft confidence.

She didn't believe him though. Not after she let Hanaway down and killed Moreau, which lost them a crucial asset and let the entire team down. Jane felt like a complete disappointment. Tears of frustration stung her eyes.

"I don't blame you for what happened." She turned her head slightly towards Ethan as he spoke, "She took someone you cared about that isn't something you just…let go."

"Did it make you feel better? When you killed the men who killed your wife?" she asked her voice low with a hint of vulnerability.

There was a long pause and Jane feared that she might have crossed an invisible line by asking that question.

"We can't get them back," Ethan said. "And we can not let the guilt we feel keep us from moving forward."

Jane frowned confused and looked at Ethan. "I don't understand…"

His brow rose slightly as he looked from her to Brandt and then back again. Jane instantly went on the defensive and shook her head, "What? No, no you're mistaken. I hardly know the man! Yeah, he's easy to talk to, which is nice, but…he's just…Brandt! It's nothing!"

Hunt smiled and patted her knee affectionately, "All I'm saying is even if it's not anything, that's okay. Just, don't let guilt hold you back, Jane – do not let it keep those wounds open. Give yourself a chance to heal." With that he stood up and walked to the other side of the plane.

Her eyes moved over to Brandt, who was having a conversation with Benji with a worried frown between his brows. Whatever Benji said was not doing much to ease that frown and it in fact deepened with every word Benji uttered.

Brandt looked up and caught her eye. Jane quickly dropped her gaze back to the iPad on her lap. She felt his gaze on her, but she busied herself by scrolling through the pictures. Ethan's words echoed in the back of her mind as she saw Brandt stand up from the corner of her eye. The feeling of anxiety filled her stomach as he drew nearer.

* * *

><p>Brandt sat down next to her and he leaned over slightly to get a better look at their target. "So, that's the guy, huh? The one you're supposed to seduce?" he said and wiggled his fingers in the air as if performing a magic trick, "Lucky guy."<p>

He held out his hand for the iPad. She heisted, but handed the device over. He grabbed it and his hand lightly brushed against hers. She caught her breath and spoke before he realized the effect the small act had on her, "The guy I'm supposed to retrieve the codes from," she corrected him.

"Hmmm," he said as he scrolled though the pictures, "I still think he's a lucky guy."

Jane shifted in her seat. The tips of her ears grew warm and she fixed her hair to make sure the strands covered any evidence of a blush, "So, what's your part of the mission then?" She asked as she tried to change the subject.

Brandt explained about the vent and the drop into the array. He sounded unenthusiastic about it and the corner of her mouth twitched as she tried to not grin at his misfortune, "So, once you get the codes I'll be able to manually tap into the central server and then Benji can shut down the satellite. Not loving the idea of a twenty five foot drop and spinning blades, but saving the world isn't supposed to be easy, right?" he said with a nervous chuckle.

Jane felt more comfortable around him by the second. She shrugged her shoulders, "Want to trade?" She suggested as she tapped on Brij Nath's picture on the iPad, "You can go and seduce him for me and I'll go and deal with the drop and the blades like a real agent would," she teased him.

Brant let out a laugh. She hadn't heard him laugh before and she liked the way it sounded. He had a light, throaty, genuine laugh that brought a smile to her face.

"Somehow I doubt I'm his type. You, on the other hand, I am sure will leave quite the impression…I know you left one on me," he said with a wink.

Jane smiled. She leaned in and gave him a small nudge to the shoulder, "The feeling is mutual."

Brandt nudged back before he cleared his throat, "Listen, I wanted to apologize about that other day. When I was in your face yelling at you about Moreau," he rubbed the back of his neck, "I shouldn't have done that. I saw what happened and you had no other choice. You did what you needed to do. I'm sorry I acted like a jerk about it earlier."

"Jerk? More like an asshole," Jane said with a playful tone.

Brandt nodded in agreement, "Asshole is more fitting, but I mean it though. I am sorry. The last thing you needed was me raising my voice at you trying to make you feel bad."

Jane remained quiet for a moment, "I would have felt bad about loosing Moreau even if you didn't say anything, but thank you for the apology," she smiled at him, "Apology accepted."

"There's no point dwelling on Moreau anymore," he said as he tapped the iPad, "New target now. You'll seduce the rich businessman with wine and grapes, while I'll possibly plummet to my death into a giant blender. Ethan quarterbacks. Benji will plug the codes into the computer and we are done! We'll be fine. You'll be fine. You've got this!" Brandt finished off and held out a folded fist towards her.

Jane laughed lightly, "You'll be fine, too," she said before she folded her own fist to bump against his, "You've got this."

* * *

><p>Brandt watched her smile as her fist connected with his.<p>

"Actually, there was something that I wanted to say to you," she said as she bit her bottom lip and she pushed a strand behind her ear.

His eyes focused on her mouth, but he quickly directed his attention upward. He raised a suggestive eyebrow at her, "Oh?"

Jane laughed and smacked his thigh lightly, "Stop. I'm being serious…it's about last night."

Brandt shifted in his seat slightly and tiled his head to catch her gaze, "I'm listening."

"I just wanted to thank you for listening. I haven't talked to anyone about Hanaway. Not really talked I mean and it felt good to finally say everything that I've been dealing with lately. So…thank you."

Brandt placed a gentle hand on her knee. She directed her gaze at his hand and he instantly thought the act might have been inappropriate. He began to pull back when she caught his hand with hers. She surprised herself and made eye contact with him again.

He placed their joined hands back on her knee and smiled, "You're welcome, Jane. I'm glad I was there when you needed someone."

He gently removed his hand from her grasp and began to stand up when she tugged on his shirt, "One more thing."

Brandt sat back down and leaned in as she lowered voice, "About Ethan's wife." He tensed up slightly and this time she placed her hand on his knee, "It wasn't your fault. I hope someday you will accept that. You were following orders and that's what we do, William. You did your job and Ethan is alive because of that. It's not your fault that his wife died."

Brant placed his hand over hers and he lightly brushed a thumb over her knuckles as he shook his head slightly, "I somehow doubt Ethan would see it that way."

She nudged him on the shoulder as before, "He might surprise you."

The moment ended as the pilot announced the landing time and destination. Brandt stood up and offered his hand to help Jane up. She stared at his hand and took it without hesitation. She gave it a small squeeze before she found her seat.

He took his own seat nearby. Brandt took a deep breath as his mind traveled back to her words about his past. He still felt the same, but at the same time he felt better after talking to Jane. Even his upcoming drop to certain death seemed slightly less terrifying. All that went out the window though because if something did go wrong tonight he would probably never see her again.

So, Brandt went to back to what he normally did and frowned instead.


	14. Chapter 14

Jane moved about in the hotel room as she got ready. She sprayed a small amount of perfume on her wrists in front of the mirror and smeared the rest on her neck before a knock sounded at door. _Ethan is early_, she thought.

"Come in, Ethan," she called out and stood from the mirror to face the door.

It wasn't Ethan, but Brandt who walked in and it was Brandt who stood taken aback as he caught sight of Jane.

Jane looked down at her dress and thought something looked wrong as Brandt continued to stare at her. It took her a few second to figure out that he was staring at her for an entirely different reason.

She rolled her eyes amused at his expression, "What brings you here? Is everything okay?"

Brandt blinked a few times and swallowed hard, "Yeah, yeah. In fact, Benji is waiting for me downstairs. We're headed to the mansion a little earlier than you and Hunt. I just wanted to come and um…wish you good luck. Not that you'll need it looking like that," he said as he stepped a bit closer.

He then broke out into a goofy grin, "Wait until Brij Nath gets a look at your—"

"At my what?" Jane interrupted him. She crossed her arms about her chest and waited for his response.

"At your, um…at your earrings," Brandt said with a cheeky smile, "What did you think I was gonna say?"

Jane shook her head slightly and dropped her arms to her sides, "Before you and Benji leave, could you get over here and help me with this?" Jane said as she turned to show him the zipper on the side of her dress that went up from her hip to her ribcage, "It's stuck."

She watched him hesitate slightly and finally made her way towards her. She felt his hands gently touch her waist as he tugged at the zipper gradually moving it up. This time she swallowed hard as she felt his breath brush against her neck. She looked toward the mirror and locked eyes with his.

"Are you nervous?" he asked as his breath continued to tickle the side of her neck. She shuddered involuntarily and the rouge on her cheeks flushed a deeper red. Jane felt the heat grow on her face and she broke eye contact to straighten the front of her dress.

"Yes," Jane admitted truthfully, "There's a lot riding on this."

Brandt finished zipping her up. He reached around her shoulder and lifted her chin so that their eyes met again through the reflection, "We've got this. Remember?"

She nodded, "We've got this," she repeated with a smile.

Brandt's hand lingered a bit longer and then it traveled down to hold her hand, "I should get down to Benji and leave you to finish up."

He gave her a quick squeeze of the hand and leaned in to place a gentle kiss on her bare shoulder, "Stay safe."

It was a chaste kiss that spoke volumes. She turned to watch him walk out the door, "William." Her voice sounded strange to her own ears.

He turned to face her, his hand already on the door handle, "Stay safe," she repeated. Brandt smiled and left as he closed the door softly behind him.

* * *

><p>He told Benji he needed to grab something from the hotel room and that he would be right back.<p>

Brandt ran a hand through his hair nervously as he knocked on the door. He heard her call out from the other side of the room and gave Ethan permission to enter. Brandt hesitated for a moment before he walked into her room.

Jane stood in a green dress that fit like a second skin. She took his breath away, literally. He took a moment to take her in. He blinked a few times and inwardly kicked himself for gawking at her. His mouth suddenly became dry.

"What brings you here? Is everything okay?" she said somewhat concerned.

Brandt reassured her that everything was in order and that he was only there to wish her luck. The honest truth was that he wanted to see her one last time in private. His heart raced as he continued to stare at her in that dress. From the moment he saw her in the train car he thought Jane Carter was beautiful, but here in this dress…she was positively stunning.

She mentioned something about a zipper and for a moment his feet were glued to the floor, but he walked over to her as she requested.

"Are you nervous?" he asked. She shivered slightly and he wondered if it was from the air conditioning or from nerves.

"Yes," Jane said and Brandt finished zipping her up. It was on pure instinct that his hand reached around her shoulder and lifted her head to her eyes in the mirror. He saw the worry in her stare and he wanted to say something to reassure her that everything was going to be fine—the same way she always seemed to make him feel just that much better with a simple sentence.

He knew he had to force himself out of that room soon; otherwise he would just stand there taking in her beautiful figure through the mirror until Ethan came to get her, and he really did not want to explain himself to Ethan.

He gave her a hand a light squeeze and an inner urge to touch her skin with his lips took over as he leaned in and kissed her shoulder. He caught a whiff of her perfume and the aroma was enough to calm his own nerves. He made eye contact with her again and mustered the same words he used back in Dubai, "Stay safe."

Brandt tore himself away from her and turned to leave. He placed his hand on the cold door handle when he heard his name. He took note that she only called him by his first name when they were alone. He enjoyed that fact very much.

"Stay safe," Jane said and he smiled at her before he left the room. He wanted more than anything to see through to the end of this mission, so that he could have more moments like the one he just experienced. Brandt walked down the hall with a new sense of determination and no twenty five foot fall into an oven was going to deter him from seeing her again.


	15. Chapter 15

The BMW pulled up in front of the mansion and a valet opened her door. Jane waited—the air around her full of anticipation as Ethan to come to her side. She took a deep breath as he extended his hand to her and she took it with newfound confidence. They entered the party together; Benji and Brandt somewhere inside by this point.

The two made their way to the middle of the elaborately decorated room when Hunt asked for a quick comm check. Brandt walked by discreetly and checked in as codename Saturn. She continued to look around, but his presence managed to subdue her nerves for the moment. Poor Benji had been assigned codename Pluto.

Jane then focused as she and Ethan moved further into the room and spotted the target. "There he is," she said. Her nerves came back onto the edge. This mission was their last chance to stop a nuclear war and the success of this mission was riding on her getting those codes. A waiter walked by and she helped herself to a glass from his tray. She took a moment to lean against one of the pillars as she downed the glass and Ethan watched on.

"Get us that code," he said, confident in her ability. Jane placed the glass down and made her way over to Brij Nath. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a platter of grapes. Her demeanor changed completely as she took a grape seductively and moved in closer. She kept her gaze on him the entire time and waited for him to look up from his current conversation. He finally made eye contact and she maintained long enough to peak his interest before she moved towards the bar.

"Hook's in," Ethan said for the benefit of Benji and Brandt. "You do make an impression," he complimented her, which brought a smile to her face as she popped another grape into her mouth.

Jane leaned against the counter and waited patiently. He would come to her—of that she was sure. She heard Brandt and Benji have one of their little banters over the comm and she inwardly smiled.

"I'm in position," Brandt said and Jane momentarily closed her eyes. _You've got this, William_, she thought.

She opened them a moment later when she heard Ethan confirm that Nath was on his way to her, "Give him your back. You don't want to make it too easy," Hunt said. Jane resisted the urge to roll her eyes. This was not her first time on the playground. She knew how to get a man's attention, but if Ethan was going to keep talking it would throw her off her game.

"Are you going to be talking the whole time?" She asked him somewhat irritated.

Nath came and stood next to her as expected. He spoke in an overly confident tone to the barman and placed a large and no doubt expensive drink order for all the guests, clearly for her benefit. He let her know in that one action that this was his house: he gave the orders and he was rich.

"Impressed yet?" Nath said as he turned his back to the bar, leaning against it.

A small smile played on her lips and she gave a tiny shrug, "I'm more of a bourbon girl."

Brij Nath hopped onto the bar, introduced himself to her, and welcomed her to his home. A phone vibrated nearby and a tray with several phones was brought over to Nath, who picked one up and began to check his message.

Jane let out a slow breath as he took his time on the phone. She exchanged worried glances with Hunt.

"He's emailing," Ethan said, "Venus. Be Venus!"

_I know!_ Jane thought, frustrated. She was being Venus! What was she supposed to do, rip the phone from out of his hand to get his attention? She shot Ethan an irritated look from her position across the room.

Nath caught the look and turned his head to see who was on the receiving end. He spotted Ethan on his phone.

"Husband? Boyfriend?" He asked curiously.

"More of a…co-worker," Jane replied.

Sliding off the bar he snapped his fingers to order her bourbon. Jane smiled and thanked him. It was then she heard Ethan give the command for Brandt to take the leap. She tensed up slightly.

Jane could hear Brandt's deep breaths. She wanted more than anything to say something comforting to him, but that would blow her cover. The barman put the drink in front of her and she took downed whiskey in one gulp to calm her nerves.

"I see you meant it when you said you were a bourbon girl," Nath said as he moved closer to her.

Jane offered him one of her best smiles despite the situation with Brandt at the moment, "I mean everything that I say."

She put one of her hands over his and looked deeply into his eyes, "Everything."

She heard Ethan harshly order Brandt to jump and she knew he was having a difficult time complying with his demands. _That tone is not helping!_ She thought. _It's only going to make him more anxious._

Brandt asked Benji how sure he was about the suit's ability. Benji's answer worried Jane, _Pretty sure? What does he mean pretty sure! _What if something went wrong? What if something happened to him?

Nath continued to talk in the background as her mind raced with all the possible outcomes of what Brandt was about to do, "….honored to have such a beautiful woman attend my party." He was saying.

"The honor is all mine," Jane replied. She struggled to get the words out and forced herself to focus on their conversation. Brandt was panting into his comm and Ethan kept snapping at him to make the jump.

"You must allow me to show you how honored and grateful I am," she told Nath.

"JUMP!" Hunt shouted into the comms and she heard Brandt yell. The tension she attempted to hold back finally broke when she heard his yell. Her eyes snapped shut and she unintentionally wrapped her hand around two of Brij Nath's fingers twisting them hard enough to crack both sets of knuckles.

Nath let out a groan of pain and gave her a startled expression before he slowly moved away from her. _Fuck!_ She had just lost them another asset. She had to inform Hunt.

"Jupiter…he's gone," Jane said as she looked over her shoulder at Ethan.

He looked at her for a moment before he spoke into the comm, "Did you jump?" he asked Brandt.

Relief filled Jane when she heard Brandt's response. At least he was okay.

* * *

><p>Brandt checked his watch as he moved through the crowd. Jane and Ethan should be here by now. Sure, he could assume his position, but he couldn't carry out the plan until Pluto arrived. Instead, he surveyed the elaborately decorated room full of unbeknownst guests and entertainment. He also hoped to get one last glimpse of her.<p>

He spotted Ethan and Jane standing in the middle of the room. Even from behind she looked beautiful. Venus. The codename suited her.

"Comm check," Ethan's voice filtered into his ear.

"Saturn's got your five by five, Jupiter," Brandt said and walked around one of the pillars and past them. He got what he wanted by seeing her and now it was game time. It was time for him to get into position.

Making his way towards his position proved to be easier than he anticipated. "Venus moving in on target," Ethan said over the comm. Brandt paused for a moment at the top of a staircase and sent her a mental note of encouragement. _You've got this. _

He continued on to his post. "You do make an impression," he heard Ethan's impressed voice and Brandt frowned. He felt a mixture of things—irritation, jealousy, possessiveness—emotions that he had no right to be feeling when it came to Jane. Nonetheless, they existed simultaneously in that moment.

A spark of jealousy set off in the back of his mind. _As team leader he should be focusing on the mission and not on Jane_, he thought irritably. He gave himself a mental shake and reminded himself that he too should be focusing on the task at hand.

"Why am I Pluto?" Benji asked his voice laced with a hint of displeasure, "It's not even a planet anymore."

Brandt quickly responded, "Well, I think Uranus is available."

"Haha, funny because you said anus!"

Brandt took off his jacket and opened the door that lead to the vent, "I'm in position," he said as he looked over the edge and down to the very bottom. So, that's what a twenty five foot drop looked like. Benji updated him on the status of the rover and somehow that made him even more nervous.

The rover was in place far too soon for his liking and Brandt watched as the blades of the fan slowed down.

"Saturn, take the leap," Ethan's voice filled his ear and Brandt took in a few gulps of air. It was time for him to do his part.

"Okay, okay," he muttered to himself as he took off his tie and rolled up his sleeves. Suddenly he felt tense all over. His buddies back in his past ops would make fun of him for this routine, but it was his only stress reliever. _Lunges!_ He did a few breathe in and breathe out exercises to try to elevate some of the tension.

He ended his exercise and leaned over the ledge again, "Jump now?" Brandt asked even though he knew the answer.

"Yes," Hunt responded calmly, "Commit. Jump."

He felt like his niece whenever they were on a road trip and she continually asked, "Are we there now?" Brandt swallowed hard, "Jump?" he repeated as he continued to look down. It suddenly seemed even longer.

"Jump!" Ethan said sharply.

"And I catch you," Benji interjected in an attempt to comfort Brandt, but there was also a hint of urgency.

"Now!" Hunt said irritation evident in his voice.

Brandt sat on the ledge, "So, uh, you're sure about this suit. Right? Benji?"

"Pretty sure," Benji said almost nonchalantly.

A dry laugh escaped Brandt, "Now you're pretty sure?"

Ethan spoke into the comm again, "Jump!" Brandt could tell his patience was wearing thin, "Jump!"

"Oh god, oh god," he muttered as he swung his legs over the edge where they dangled ready for him to follow through.

"JUMP!" Hunt shouted.

With a yell, Brandt jumped. He loved roller coasters and feeling of flying through the air, but he was strapped to the seat when did that stuff. This ride was a complete free fall that came with an instant feeling of nausea. Somewhere between the top and the bottom he closed his eyes to avoid seeing the inevitable, but fortunately for him (and for the mission) the suit held up. He opened his eyes as he hovered perfectly above the slow moving blades.

Over the comm, Jane said something about losing the target. He wondered what went wrong for that to happen since he figured she had Nath in the bag.

There was a slight pause and then Ethan's voice filtered through, "Did you jump?" he asked.

"Should I _not_ have jumped?" Brandt asked incredulously, "Because I jumped!"

"Standby," was Hunt's quick reply.


	16. Chapter 16

Jane raised her glass to finish the rest of her whiskey when Ethan appeared at her side. He placed a hand on her glass to stop her from taking another sip.

She turned her head to look at him. What could she say? She failed the team—again. She expected Ethan to say something to her about letting Nath get away.

Instead he had a calm look on his face as he spoke, "I'm playing a hunch." Jane grew confused and looked at him unsure of his words, "Don't hit me." His fingers brushed her cheek with a feathery touch before he gently held her chin.

She barely had a moment to register his intentions before she felt his lips pressed against hers. It was a nice kiss, firm yet gentle. The sensation felt foreign to her, but she played along all the same.

Jane looked up at him when he pulled away. Did he really think this would work? Why would Nath care if someone kissed her? As if on queue a phone rang nearby and a waiter appeared with a tray that contained numerous cell phones. She answered the ringing phone.

Nath was on the other end. Jane gave Ethan a glance to let him know the target had been re-hooked. The game was back on and now it was time to play a little hide and seek.

* * *

><p>Brandt felt slightly nauseated as Benji moved him along to the relay room with the rover. The temperature increased gradually and he burnt his hand a couple of times.<p>

"Be careful! It's going to be getting a bit hot," Benji said over the comm. _No shit_, Brandt thought. Benji continued, "We have to get to the satellite before Hendricks."

Brandt suddenly dropped and grazed himself against some of the panels, "Ah! Up, up, up!" he urged Benji.

However, Benji overestimated the height and Brandt bumped the top of his head against the panel above him, "Too much, too much!" he told Benji who then lowered him slightly.

_I'm going to get him for that one_, Brandt thought.

* * *

><p>Jane maintained her little cat and mouse game with Nath. She pressed the phone to her ear and scanned the room to find him.<p>

Nath was on the other end of the phone as he explained that Ethan was not her type and that he was a better choice instead. _Well, you're half right on that one_, Jane thought as the kiss between her and Ethan momentarily flashed through her mind. Ethan was a great and honorable man, but he fit the older brother profile…

Hunt watched from the second floor and grew impatient with Nath's childish game. They needed to get those codes.

"Eight o'clock!" he informed Jane, "He's at your eight o'clock!"

She walked up behind Nath and snapped the mobile closed, "I heard you have one of the finest collections in the world," Jane said.

"Well, at least it is private," he responded and indicated he should follow her as he walked down the hall.

* * *

><p>Brandt removed one of the panels on the computer. The heat got more uncomfortable as beads of sweat started to drip down from his brow. The fact that he hovered on his side did not make things easier.<p>

He removed the necessary wires and reconnected them, which cased the satellite coordinates to be revealed to Benji. Now, all he needed were they codes.

"In position," he said. The heat was unbearable, but his mind found a comforting spot when he thought of Jane.

Benji's voice rang out excitedly, "I see the satellite!"

* * *

><p>Jane walked beside Nath as he led her down a hall full of artwork that featured the universal theme of sensual relationships between a man and a woman. Jane rolled her eyes because he clearly wanted to experiment with those themes and she refused to go that far.<p>

"I need those codes, guys."

It was Brandt. His voice sounded urgent and she heard a sizzling sound in the background. He must be dying of heat already. She needed to get him out of there without further delay. She half listened to Nath as he spoke of tantric desires.

His hand moved to brush her shoulder. The feeling of touch felt foreign unlike Brandt's touch from the moment they shared in the hotel room earlier. Nath's hand made its way down her back…far too low.

She grabbed his arm and twisted it painfully, which caused him to fall to his knees. He looked up at her confused just as one of his servants came out from a nearby room.

Jane slowly moved shifted her hand on his to avoid the awkward angle she put him in and smiled down at him. She held her breath and hoped he would take the bait as she offered her hand to him. He did.

Nath leaned in slowly and made an attempt to kiss her hand. She pulled it away just before his lips could touch it and gave his cheek a firm slap before she walked into the bedroom. She waited for him to follow.

* * *

><p>Brandt waited patiently and grinded his teeth as he listened to the rich guy try to seduce Jane. He really wanted to punch the guy in the face right about now, but the thought quickly escaped him as the heat continued to rise.<p>

Suddenly, the blades behind him started to spin at a dangerously fast pace. That was not a good sign.

"What the hell is that?" he asked.

"What the hell is that?" Benji repeated and he sounded just as confused.

"What the hell is what!" Ethan interjected and waited for an update.

The blades began to spin rapidly and the sound muffled his words as he tried to yell, "It's going haywire."

Benji informed him that a virus was downloaded onto the server. Hunt further clarified and explained that Hendricks attempted to kill the server before they could kill the satellite.

_Unfuckingbelievable_, Brandt thought.

* * *

><p>She walked into the bedroom and the sound of a motor or something similar filled her ear, which caused her to stop in her tracks. Something had gone wrong.<p>

A short exchange between Saturn, Jupiter, and Pluto proved her instincts right.

"Hendricks is reprogramming the satellite. He's going to have launch capability in five minutes," Benji said.

She had five minutes to help stop a nuclear war.

"Is something wrong?" Nath asked after he realized that she stood still in the middle of the room with her back to him.

"Jane! You've got to move. We need that code!" Ethan said.

Jane turned slowly to face him, "No," she said as she smiled and walked over to him.

She took his hands, "Finally, we are alone," she said as they walked backwards towards the bed. Nath was all too eager to follow her and playfully kicked off his shoes.

"Venus, now is the time. Kick his ass and get the codes!" Ethan instructed. _I'm trying_, Jane thought. She wanted nothing more than to avert this crisis and to get Brandt out of there.

"We are alone, aren't we?" she asked casually.

Nath leaned in for a kiss, "No one will interrupt us." When he was close enough Jane finally made her move. With a grunt and a grab of his arm, she flipped him onto the bed. Quickly, she caught him in a choke hold.

"I am going to break your neck," she whispered to him, "The override sequence for the relay station. Say it now or never speak again."

She increased the pressure around his neck to make him aware of the seriousness behind her words. "Codes!"

Nath did not need any more motivation than that. He gave up the codes.

* * *

><p>Even though the blades continued to spin behind him and he started to worry about his escape route, Brandt could not help but admire Jane. He heard the demand behind her voice and made a mental note to never get on her bad side.<p>

"36…82…93," Nath's breathed out in a strained voice though Jane's comm. Brandt began to enter the first set of digits when the system started to shut down. The power died completely and plunged the room into darkness.

"Benji, what happened!" He called out.

"The system crashed! We're too late."

Or, maybe not. Hunt quickly instructed Benji to pinpoint Hendricks's location because in his attempt to kill their mission, he had revealed his coordinates.

"He's signaling out of a state run TV station, 6.7 miles from here," Benji informed him.

"Send me the coordinates," Hunt instructed him.

He then spoke to Brandt, "Good work, Brandt. Now get the hell out of there!"

"Back me up!" Brandt yelled and Benji began to navigate the rover to move him back toward the blades.

"Jane, tie it up with Nath and meet me at the rally point," Ethan said. She removed the tranquillizer from a strap on her thigh and used her teeth to pull the top off before she jammed into satisfyingly into Nath's neck.

* * *

><p>Brandt had his arms out in front of him as he hovered forward towards the fans, "That's it Benji, just straight through." Suddenly he stopped moving, "Wait, stop! Take me through!"<p>

The rover, however, no longer responded to Benji's controls. Brandt needed to be patient, but when you're inches away from death, patience was not an option. He pushed himself through manually until he was over the spinning blades.

The ventilated air lifted him up, but not high enough. He needed to get back to his point of origin.

"I can't reach the top! More fan, more fan, more fan!" He yelled for Benji.

"There's nothing I can do!" Benji said, "It's maxed out."

_So much for technology_, Brandt thought, but he came up with a quick solution. He curled himself up into a ball, which dropped him down the shaft like a paperweight. As soon as he neared the blades, he spread his arms and legs wide, which shot him straight up to his desired height. He made it back through the opening and landed on the floor with a loud thud.

"Brandt?" Ethan asked concern evident in his voice.

He breathed hard, thankful just to be alive and on solid ground. "Next time. I get to seduce the rich guy," he said sarcastically.

She left Nath's room as discreetly as possible and made her way over to Ethan's position.

Jane bit the bottom of her lip in worry as she listened to Brandt's attempts to get out of the relay room. _Come on, Benji_, _get him out of there_, she thought.

She walked out of the mansion to see Ethan in the BMW already waiting for her. Jane slid in and closed the door just in time to hear a loud thud come through the comm.

Her head spun around and she looked at Ethan, eyes slightly wide with worry. _William!_

"Brandt!" Ethan said. He sounded almost as concerned as she felt.

A few moments passed and a sick feeling slithered down from her chest and into her stomach. It felt like a lifetime had passed before she heard his heavy breathing.

"Next time," he said between breaths, "I get to seduce the rich guy."

How the man managed to joke at a moment like this Jane could not fathom. Regardless, she could not help but smile at the joke as Ethan started the car. The mission wasn't over yet.


	17. Chapter 17

The car sped away and headed towards the TV station where Hendricks was located. Jane tried to change in the limited space she had in the front seat.

"How long till Hendricks can lunch the missile?" Hunt asked as he wove the car in and out of traffic.

"Less than thirty seconds," Benji replied through the comm. Jane looked over at Ethan. They were running out of time…

* * *

><p>Brandt made his way out of the mansion to retrieve the car. Ethan and Jane were already on their way to stop Hendricks, but they would definitely need backup. He pulled the car round to the back side of the mansion, where Benji waited with a laptop in hand.<p>

"I'm here, Ethan," Benji said as he slammed the door and Brandt pulled away from the curb as fast as possible. When Benji said there were only seconds left for Hendricks to activate the missile, Brandt pushed harder on the accelerator determined to go against time itself. He refused to lose.

* * *

><p>Traffic grew worse with each turn.<p>

"We need another route," Hunt said and waved his hand shift the navigation map displayed on the windshield from his side to Jane's side. Jane took over and gave him directions as she continued to change her attire.

"Ethan! Hendricks started the launch sequence," Benji informed them.

"How much time till missile is deployed?" Hunt asked.

"Three minutes," Benji replied with a tone of urgency.

Finally, Jane was out of the dress. She turned her head towards Ethan. Three minutes was not long enough, "We're three and a _half_ minutes out," she said to him.

Hunt briefly took his eyes off the road to look at her, "We can make it," he said. Jane looked doubtful. "We can make it." Hunt repeated.

She managed to slip on a t-shirt and pants and returned her attention to the road, "Next right," she directed Ethan. He turned and again they hit standstill traffic. Time was quickly slipping through their fingers and Hunt hit the steering wheel in frustration.

"Ethan," Benji's somber voice sounded through the comm, "We're too late. The missile's in the air." Jane's heart gave a sickening thud and her stomach dropped. The mission had failed. She barely had time to fully digest the news before Ethan suddenly turned the car sharply making the wheels screech.

"There has to be a way to abort the warhead!" Hunt said as he navigated through the traffic again.

"If there is one it will be on the launch codes," Jane responded and she felt a flicker of hope.

"Then we're going to get that case!" Ethan said with newfound determination.

* * *

><p>"The missile's in the air," Benji said. Brandt grabbed the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles turned white. <em>This can't be it<em>, he thought, _not after we came this far_. He looked from Benji to the laptop.

Ethan's voice came over the comm. It wasn't over yet. They still had a chance to change the direction of the warhead, but if only they could get to the case on time.

The determination in Hunt's voice fueled Brandt to pursue this mission further. He clenched his jaw and pushed the car for all it was worth. The sooner he and Benji got to the TV station, the sooner they could be of use to Jane and Ethan.

* * *

><p>Ethan and Jane pulled up to the TV station and spotted two men exiting the building. Hunt jumped out and yelled orders to her, "Get Wistrom! Inside, inside!" he said before he chased Hendricks down the street.<p>

Jane ran inside and took the stairs two at a time to catch up to Wistrom. She pulled out her gun as she rounded the corner. Wistrom pulled out wires from the main computer to destroy the relay. He opened fire as soon as he saw her.

Jane's heart raced as she took cover and returned fire. She had to get him away from that computer. She took a deep breath and crossed the room in an exchange of rapid fire between her and Wistrom.

He took cover and she stopped shooting to take the opportunity to move in closer to him. Her heartbeat traveled up to her ears as she approached his hiding spot. Gun held out in front of her she turned the corner ready to fire.

Wistrom was gone, his gun discarded on the ground before her. Jane winced as she felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen. She pressed her hand to it and felt dampness on her shirt. She pulled back her hand and found blood. She had been shot.

A noise behind her caused her to spin and hold her gun out despite the piercing pain from her wound. Jane lowered her weapon at the appearance of Benji and Brandt.

* * *

><p>Brandt and Benji heard the gunshots from outside. The two men pulled out their own weapons and followed the sounds upstairs. Jane stood near the main computer with her gun drawn.<p>

"Wistrom destroyed the relay," she said as she lowered her gun, "Ethan went after Hendricks with the case, but—"

"Doesn't matter, if he has the case we can't transport the abort codes!" Benji said as he pulled one of the drives out.

Brandt still had his gun drawn as he looked around the room in case Wistrom made a sudden appearance. Suddenly, the room went dark.

"This is going to be pointless if we don't have power!" Benji said. Brandt pulled out a flashlight and held it up to give them some visibility.

"Wistrom!" Jane said as she turned and pulled out her gun again, but she winced in pain and bent over slightly.

Worry filled Brandt as he closed the distance between them in a few quick steps, "Jane!"

She leaned against a wall for support, "I'm okay."

He scanned her body and saw the blood. _Fuck._ "You're _not_ okay," he said to her. "She's been hit," Brandt told Benji.

Jane took in slow breaths. If he had the chance, he would have gotten her out of there in an instant, but the mission came first despite his desire to keep her safe.

"You stay here and cover Benji," he told her, "Benji! Get this thing rewired and back online. I'll get the power on."

Brandt turned back to Jane. He could tell she was in extreme pain, but he needed her to stay strong for just a little longer. He leaned in and placed a hand on her lower back, "You can do this," he said before he took off down the hall.

* * *

><p>Brandt walked down the hall to look for the power source and used his flashlight to guide the way. He kicked open the door to the power room and spotted the main power box. Brandt was just about to open it when someone charged at him from the side.<p>

Wistrom was hiding in the dark and probably hoped to win the match against the woman he was shooting earlier. Instead, he got Brandt and he was pissed. He punched Wistrom and hit his jawline twice, which caused the taller man to double over and body slam Brandt back against the power box.

His vision blurred slightly as his head connected with the switch box. He lifted his knee and drove it hard into Wistrom's abdomen before he punched him again. He wanted nothing more than to kill the man who shot Jane, but he refused to kill out of revenge. His priority was to get the power back on. He turned, opened the main box, and reached for the lever.

But, Wistrom grabbed him from behind and pulled him away before he could turn it on. Brandt struggled to breathe as the arm around his neck started to choke him. He heard a gun go off and felt Wistrom's grip loosen.

Benji came to his aid. Wistrom fell to the ground and the weight of his body took Brandt down with him. He didn't want to kill out of revenge, but nobody said he couldn't kill out of self defense.

He moved the dead man's arm off him and quickly jumped to his feet to push the level upward. The power came back on and he prayed that he made it on time.

He uttered the first thing that came to his mind, "We need to get back to Jane," he said to Benji.

* * *

><p>"You've got this," he whispered to her. Even when everything was hectic and falling apart, he still took a moment to pass on words of encouragement to her. She could do this. Jane took a deep breath and pushed herself away from the wall. She moved to stand next to Benji as he set the wires back into the panels.<p>

"He's been gone too long…Damn it!" he exclaimed as the thin wires continued to make his fingertips bloody, "Listen when the power comes on, these two drives go into this bay, okay?"

Jane nodded and took the drives from him, "Benji!" she called out to him, "Make sure he's okay. Brandt. Just…make sure."

Benji gave her a curious look before he returned her nod and took off. Jane ignored the pain in her side and held her gun up in alert lest Wistrom reappeared. She stood still since any movement caused her pain. Jane bit her bottom lip as she waited for the lights to come back on. A gun went off in the distance. _William! Benji!_ The lights suddenly came on; Jane reached for the drives, and pushed them into the bay.

She had to get to Benji and Brandt—to make sure they were okay. Jane took a step towards the sound of the gunshot, but the pain in her side was too intense and her legs buckled.

"I got you!" she heard Brandt's voice. His arms caught her before she hit the floor.

"We need to get you to a hospital," he said out loud and then whispered into her ear, "Keep pressure on it," he advised her.

Jane pressed against the bullet wound and let out a relieved smile despite the pain, "You two are okay. Thank God, you're okay." She almost sounded delirious and she started to lose consciousness.

Brandt shook her head lightly, "Jane, stay with me, okay?"

Worry evident in his voice as he spoke and then turned to urgency, "Benji! Get the car!" He yelled.

Jane opened her eyes to see Benji tear out of the room. She then looked at Brandt whose face betrayed his concern as he helped her slowly down the stairs to the front of the building.

"I'm glad you're safe" she repeated once more. "I heard a gun go off and thought, maybe…"

He flashed her a big smile, "You have to try harder than that to get rid of me. I'm not going anywhere just yet, Jane."

The thought comforted her before she completely lost consciousness.


	18. Chapter 18

He had to give credit to Benji, who got them to the hospital in record time. Jane lost a lot of blood along the way and started to slip in and out of consciousness. He barely heard what Benji said about going to find Ethan as he helped her out of the car.

"Come on, Jane. Stay with me. I need you to stay with me, Jane," Brandt supported her and put his hand on her wound to try to slow down the bleeding. There was no exit wound from the gunshot, which meant the bullet was still lodged inside her. He didn't even want to think of the possibility that it might have hit a major organ.

He would have carried her, but he needed to keep pressure applied, "HELP! We need help!" He yelled as they entered the ER. A young nurse came to their aid and he quickly explained the situation. Jane was placed onto a gurney and rushed into surgery.

"I'm going, too!" He said as he moved to follow, but was blocked by one of the male nurses, who held a file.

Brandt shoved him out of the way without hesitation, "Move." The man stumbled before he moved to block Brandt again, "Dude, I don't want to hurt you, but you have less than five seconds to get out of my way." He warned the nurse.

The kid was probably no older than twenty two, but that was not going to stop Brandt from hurting him, "Sir" the young man said, "You can't go into the surgery room; we need you to fill out some paperwork." He held up the file and Brandt snatched it from him.

He took the file and sat down in one of the empty waiting room chairs. The news ran a breaking story about the warhead, but he paid no attention. This was stupid! He hardly knew any of these answers. He didn't know her age or blood type, but he did know that she was in surgery and he just wanted her to be okay. With a frustrated groan Brandt put his head in his hands and waited.

* * *

><p>Jane's nose twitched and took in a slow inhale. She smelled anesthetics and other cleaning agents. <em>Hospital<em>, Jane thought. She heard someone shift in a chair and she opened one eye as she slowly turned her head. Brandt attempted to make himself comfortable in a chair that looked anything but comfortable.

He had his arms crossed above his chest and his head fell back and forth as sleep tried to take him. She smiled slightly, "How long have you been sitting there?" Jane asked, her voice came out in a dry croak.

Brandt's ears pricked up at the sound of her voice. He sat up straight and grinned at her, "A little over four hours?"

Her eyebrows rose in surprise, "I've been out for four hours?" she asked.

"Seven, actually. You were in surgery for three. They brought you in here four hours ago. The bullet had punctured a vital organ and it took them a while to patch everything up." He smiled and moved the chair a little closer, "Glad to see you're up."

She noticed the flowers on the nightstand and her smile widened, "William, did you get me flowers?" she asked curiously and she winced as she pushed herself up into a seated position. She reached for the card attached to the tulips.

"Um…" Brandt scratched the back of his head, "Those are from Benji, actually. He dropped them off about an hour ago."

"Oh," she nodded somewhat disappointed. She loved Benji, but she had hoped the act of brining her flowers came from someone else…

"How is Benji?" She asked and then suddenly remembered Ethan. The last time she saw him he was chasing Hendricks down a street, "Ethan! Is Ethan alright?"

Brandt nodded, "They're both fine. Ethan is around here somewhere in his own bed and he's going to be there for a while. His leg was pretty badly broken as well as a few ribs here and there. Benji's fine and is on his way back to IMF headquarters for briefings on our situation."

Jane nodded as she read the card Benji had left with the flowers:

_"Dear Jane...no, not dear Jane, that sounds so formal. You are, after all, my friend and we've been through a lot together. Remember that time in Bali when…no wait, I'm blabbing. What I wanted to say was that I hope you get well soon since it's just a flesh wound and all, right? Maybe I should get shot one day and we'll have scars to tell the tale...assuming I survive the gun shot wound. Why did I want to get shot again? Whatever. Get well soon, Jane."_

Jane chuckled as she read the card and pointed to it. "Yeah, I read it," Brandt laughed with her, "Benji is one of a kind," he said.

She chuckled again and groaned in pain. The wound was still fresh. She set the card down on the table and looked at Brandt. He still wore his suit and the only difference was that there was blood on them. Her blood. "And you? How are you?"

He took a deep breath before he responded, "Now? Now, I'm relieved. I wasn't doing so great a few hours ago when the doctor came to update me and told me your surgery would run a little longer because of the gravity of the situation….but now? I'm doing much better."

Jane felt a slight warmth in her chest and for a second she thought it was something medical related, but the warmth meant so much more. She held her hand out to him and Brandt took it in his. He placed her hand against his cheek as she whispered, "Thank you for staying with me."

"I wasn't going to go anywhere," he said and she remembered him saying something similar during one of her conscious moments earlier. She swallowed hard. His hands felt warm and she gently removed hers to brush back his hair, which was slightly messy.

"So, when are you breaking me out of here?" she asked and winced in pain again. She pulled back and rested herself against the pillow.

He chuckled, "Sorry, but you're stuck here for another two days…and I wish I could stay, but I have to go back to the States soon."

Disappointment was written across her face and she didn't bother to hide it, "Oh. Well, that makes sense. I'm sure they want your report on the Secretary's death."

"Yes, there's that." He hesitated for a moment and gently grabbed her hand before he spoke again. "Also, I decided to re-activate my agent status. So, I have to go through re-training," Brandt gave a small shrug, "What we did today…we saved a lot of lives and I was part of that. I like that feeling, knowing that you helped do something good. Something important."

"That's great!" She said enthusiastically, "You should be an agent. You have the skills and the determination to be out in the field. Plus, I'd feel safer knowing I'd have you as back up in the future," Jane gave his hand a squeeze.

She placed her other hand on top of the one she held and lightly brushed his bruised and burned knuckles, "So, when do you leave?"

Brandt checked his watch, "My plane should be taking off right about now…"

He stayed for her. That warm feeling spread through her chest again and down to her stomach. "William…" she whispered and shook her head at a loss for what to say.

He shrugged his shoulders, "I can catch the next one out. It's not a big deal, really."

He shifted his hand slightly within her grasp and stroked her knuckles instead. She liked it when he did that. Jane relaxed back against the pillows. Her eyelids felt heavy again and she closed them briefly.

She felt his free hand trace her eyebrow lightly as it traveled up to push a strand of hair behind her ear. The sensation felt so natural and she reveled in moment. Brandt was returning to the field. Jane was happy for him—happy that he was able to accept that he was not to blame for the death of Ethan's wife…happy that he had let go of the guilt…happy that he was returning to do something he excelled at.

…_and happy that I will be able to spend more time with him._ A small smile formed on her lips at the thought. He continued to stroke her hand and the combination of their successful mission, the news he just shared with her, and his warm touch allowed her to drift back into a calm sleep.

* * *

><p>Brandt was scheduled on a flight that left in a little over an hour, but he refused to leave her bedside. He knew his supervisors would have his hide, however, if he missed this one.<p>

He watched her fall asleep as they held hands and she looked so relaxed. Jane Carter. He momentarily thought back to the forms he had to fill out in the waiting room. Not knowing what she was allergic to, what blood type she was, and by that extension what her favorite color was seemed wrong to him. There was something about her that made him want to know all the things that made her Jane Carter. The things that really mattered.

Did she prefer cats or dogs? Would she be bothered by his singing in the shower? Is she the type of girl who leaves her shoes by the door when she enters someone's house? Does she like salt on her popcorn? Would she hate the fact that he never squeezed the toothpaste from the bottom? Did she wear socks to bed? _What_ did she wear to bed?

Brandt shook his head before his train of thought spiraled down a different road. He really had to get going. He gently pulled his hand from her grasp so as to not wake her up and stood up. He reached the door in big quiet strides and took one last look at her before he turned to leave the room. He was almost out the door…

"William?"

* * *

><p>The click of the door being opened woke her up. Her eyes flew open and she could see him about to slip out.<p>

"William?" Jane blinked a few times and tried to push herself up some more, but did not have the strength to do it, "Is it time for you to go?"

He turned to face her and it took all his self-control to remain by the doorway, "I need to be on the next plane back."

"Without saying goodbye?" She said in an attempt to keep her tone neutral, but even she heard the hint of disappointment behind her words.

He threw his self-control right out the window. Brandt shut the door and walked back over to her. He gently sat on the edge of her bed, "You were fast asleep and I didn't have the heart to wake you up."

She simply nodded, not knowing what to say.

"You need your rest, Jane. Go back to sleep," he said and retraced her other brow with his hand, "We'll touch base when you get back to the States, okay?"

Jane nodded again, "Have a safe flight."

"Knowing my luck I'll have kid kicking the seat behind me and a giant, balding man surgically attached to my side," he joked. She laughed and let out several breaths to alleviate the pain in her abdomen.

"Don't make me laugh," she struggled to say between breaths and he simply smiled. He made a mental note to make her laugh whenever he had the chance.

She calmed down and Brandt stood up. He brushed her forearm and looked at her for a moment. She looked back at him and wanted to say goodbye, but it seemed too…final, and the last thing she wanted was this to end.

She settled with, "I'll see you around," instead.

He winked at her, "You know it," and with that he left the room.

Jane looked around and momentarily felt a touch of loneliness spread through her. She tugged at her covers, let out a soft sigh, and closed her eyes. The only thing that helped battle the sudden loneliness was the thought that she would see Ethan, Benji, and Brandt soon. Her thoughts lingered on the latter and her ears grew warm. She shook her head and drifted back to sleep.


	19. Chapter 19

**Authors Note: I am very sorry it has taken me a long time to update this fic. Unfortunately I have been quite sick and did not have the energy to work on it. Thank you to everyone for the lovely reviews so far, I appreciate them all. Hope you enjoy the rest!**

* * *

><p>Brandt opened his fridge, pulled out a beer, and took a long swig. His stomach growled in hunger, but he ignored it and relied on the beer to fill him up. This was his first night free since he had completed the retraining program for field status.<p>

It took him three weeks with days filled sharpening various skills, including social engineering, hand-to-hand combat, misdirection, linguistics—the list was endless. It was the same routine every day: woke up, trained, got back home both mentally and physically exhausted. The grueling exercises did not keep his mind from thinking about her though. They had worked together for a short ten days between Dubai and Mumbai, but she undeniably left a lasting impression.

He threw himself on top of the couch and placed the bottle down on the table. He stretched slightly and pulled out his phone from his pocked. _I should call her_…but what would she say. Would she even want to hear from him? He frowned and threw the phone to the loveseat across from him. _She's probably on a mission anyway_, he thought as he rubbed the exhaustion away from his face.

He massaged his beaten hands for a moment and then reached out for the beer when the phone buzzed. He sat up and looked over at the phone, which sat upside down on the loveseat. A smile broke out on his face when he saw the name _Venus_ flash on the screen.

He threw himself onto the seat, shook his hands in anxiety, and took a deep breath before he picked it up on the third ring, "Hello," he said and his voice broke halfway. He mentally kicked himself, cleared his throat and tried again, "Hello!" he said overenthusiastically. He lightly punched himself on the forehead and hunched over in shame.

She laughed lightly. At least he did something right. He missed that laugh, "A little English bird told me that you had completed retraining. Congratulations, _Agent_ Brandt," the husky voice said on the other end. He missed that voice, too.

Brandt smiled, "Benji keeping you updated on my whereabouts?"

"I keep tabs on you—on all of you," she quickly corrected herself, "I've gotta keep up with my boys, somehow," she said. _Her boys_, he thought. He liked that.

"Thank you. It feels good to be back in the game," Brandt said and his stomach growled again. He grabbed the beer and took another swig in the hopes that it would calm him stomach down.

"Have you celebrated yet?" She asked.

He looked down at his beer, his own form of celebration, and laughed, "I didn't think it was something worth celebrating."

Jane made an exasperated sound and he could tell that she rolled her eyes at his response, "Of course it is! How does a meat lover's pizza sound? Thin crust! My treat."

His mouth watered at the idea of a pizza. Then it finally clicked in his mind, "Wait…you're in Virginia?" He asked and he grinned from ear to ear at the possibility of seeing her again after what seemed like forever. .

"I will be soon," she said and she sounded a bit winded.

There was a knock on the door. Brandt frowned irritated at whoever was behind it. He had not spoken to her in weeks and now she spoke of possibly being in the area. The last thing he wanted was some neighbor or unwanted guest at his door.

Jane had gone quiet on the other end, but whoever stood at the door knocked again a little louder, "Hang on!" he snapped at the door.

"Give me one second, Jane," he said with a calmer voice into the phone before he reached the door and pulled it open with a scowl. His expression dramatically changed from one of annoyance to features of pure delight.

"This building has no elevator and you just had to live on the fifth floor?" Jane asked into the phone as she eyed him, somewhat winded.

She carried a large pizza box, "Dinner is served."

* * *

><p>Jane had not slept in hours. Her mission in Thailand had been a success, but now came the part that every agent dreaded: debriefing and paperwork. Still, it was finally over and she was back at IMF headquarters in Virginia.<p>

"The hard drive is completely dead," she heard Benji as she approached the tech room he usually occupied when not scheduled on the field, "What part of completely dead do you not understand?"

Jane raised her brow at his tone. He could get suspended for that kind of talk around here, but she stood at the doorway as he finished his conversation, "I don't care what mum will do to you. It's not my fault you watch porn on her computer and happened to download a virus."

Jane snickered at his conversation and he quickly turned around in his seat to find her covering her mouth in an attempt to not laugh out loud, "Yes, Agent Harley, I'll get right on that. Goodbye," he dismissed his brother and hung up the phone.

"Jane! How was Thailand?" Benji asked as he dumped the hard drive originally in question into the trash and completely turned to give her his undivided attention.

"Routine," she answered with a shrug.

"Not as exciting as our last run?" He said with a small smirk on his face as he referred to their events with Ethan and Brandt, "Good times, huh?"

"Good times, indeed," she smiled. "How's Ethan doing?"

"Physical therapy, but I swear the man is made of adamantium. He'll be ready to take on the next mission in no time," he replied. She smiled at Benji's never ending references to comics and popular culture.

"That's good," she said as she crossed her arms and leaned against a piece of wall not covered with switches, panels, and blinking lights. She stared at blankly at the floor and Benji eyed her suspiciously.

There was a small pause before Benji spoke up again, "You know…Brandt is doing well, I hear."

Jane looked up at him. Her poker face hid her emotions well, but Benji had picked up on the subtle glances and exchanges of conversation between the two agents before. She nodded, "He is?"

Benji smiled, "Yeah, he just finished the retraining program. Apparently, he finished at the top of his group, too. That's our Brandt, eh?" He said rather proudly.

"Yeah," she smiled, "Our Brandt," she repeated.

"I also happen to know that he's in the area and the last time I checked he had absolute rubbish in his kitchen, so…" he slowly nodded and hoped she picked up on his subtle prodding.

"We should celebrate with him, don't you think? Pizza and beer?" she said excitedly.

"Yeah, that sounds great!" he said as he stood up. He then snapped his fingers disappointedly, "Shoot, I forgot I have to reprogram a few of our latest gadgets for an upcoming mission, but please, send him my regards."

Jane turned around to face Benji, well aware of the game he now played. She folded her arms slowly across her chest, "I see right through you, Benjamin Dunn."

He sat back down and gave her one of his most innocent of expressions, "What? I have work to do!"

"Mmm hmm," was all she said before she came over and placed a kiss on the top of his head before they exchanged goodbyes.

"Your heart, you must follow," he whispered to himself as he logged on to his computer. He shook his head, "I would have been a great Yoda."

* * *

><p>Jane stood in front of the small apartment building with a pizza box and bag of beer in one hand and a cell phone in the other. She paced the entrance back and forth and on a few occasions attempted to leave, but the urge to see him called her right back.<p>

_This is insane, Jane. You barely know him. He just finished retraining. What if he already has company celebrating with him? What if he has—female company?_ She shook her head. She balanced the pizza box on top of a bush and momentarily hid the phone in her pocket. She pulled off her hair tie and shook her hair out.

_Loose Jane is fun Jane_, her friends used to say. She removed the cell phone from the pocket and proceeded to find his contact information.

_It's a quick meet and greet_, she thought. _Nothing serious, so calm down_, she finished. It was now or never.

* * *

><p>Brandt opened the door and she watched his expression change from annoyance to pleasure, "Dinner is served," she said into the phone as she held the pizza box out to him.<p>

He simply stood there and she began to worry that she had interrupted something, "Is that a no on the pizza, then?"

Brandt snapped out of it and laughed lightly into his phone, "That's a definite yes on the pizza," he said as he took the box from her, the goofy smile still on his face.

There was a small pause before he spoke again, "So, you're just passing through Virginia on IMF business or…did you miss me?" He asked curiously.

Jane rolled her eyes and decided to be honest with herself, "A little of both," she admitted, but her ears betrayed her again as they warmed from a slight blush. She thanked her earlier decision to let her hair loose.

Despite her sudden blush, she chose to pursue this conversation with him, "So, William, are you going to just stand there flirting with me or are you going to invite me in?"

Brandt laughed again and momentarily stared at the pizza box before he made contact with her again, "If I let you in do I have to stop flirting with you?"

She broke eye contact and stared at the floor as anxiety mixed with unexplained emotions spread from her chest down to her stomach. She shifted her weight onto her heals before she rested them back flat onto the floor. Jane then shook her head her loose curls shifted from side to side, "No…because it gives me incentive to flirt back."

Brandt grinned, "Well in that case…" he said as he ended the call and stepped aside to let her in.

She took of her jacket and he placed the box on the table. He took the bag of beer from her, left two beers on the table, and went to refrigerate the rest.

She looked around and the apartment was small and plain. It was like that for most field agents. Ready to pick up and leave whenever duty called.

"You know, you read my mind because I am starving," he said as he came back.

"So am I.…which is why I ate a slice in the car before I got here," she admitted sheepishly.

"My kind of girl," he muttered under his breath with an amused chuckle.

"What was that?" she asked as she flipped open the box to steal another slice. She threw herself onto the loveseat couch and made herself comfortable. He shook his head.

"I said I better grab a slice before you finish the entire pie," he teased as he grabbed a slice and landed on the larger couch with a thud.

She rolled her eyes at him before she raised her half eaten slice into the air in a toast, "To being an IMF field agent!"

Brandt knocked his slice against hers and repeated her words before he took a huge bite of his slice.

He finished his slice a few moments later and was about to dive in for another one when Jane spoke up, "I hope you're not weirded out by the fact that I'm here, by the way. I just came back from Thailand and finished debriefing earlier when Benji told me about how you finished retraining. I just—I just wanted to see you before another mission came up, you know?"

Brandt laughed lightly, "Why would I be weirded out by you being here? I am really glad to see you…really glad," he ended on a more serious tone as they looked at each other. He then cleared his throat and changed the subject, "How's the gunshot wound?"

"All healed up," she smiled.

"Any scars? I still have burn marks from that damn relay room," he said as he sat back with another slice. He took another swig of his beer.

"Yeah, actually…I'll show you mine if you show me yours," she said casually and he choked on his beer.

Jane laughed as she patted him on the back. She missed Brandt and his ability to put her at ease. Once he calmed down she ruffled his hair and sat back comfortably on the couch. She needed this. After he left her hospital room in India weeks ago, she thought these moments would never happen. Now, here they were in his living room eating pizza and shooting the breeze.

They talked about her allergies to peanuts, how he actually hates heights, her love for chocolate ice cream and his for rum and raisin, his five year old niece, her older sister, his love of hard rock music and her hate of it, their mutual enjoyment for cooking, and his love for old sit-coms; which is what brought them to the 'I love Lucy' Marathon that was on TV.

"I can't believe you have never watched this show!" Brandt repeated a second time. He lay flat against the couch with his head against the arm rest as he shot his arms at her in shock, "How is that even possible? It's an American classic!"

Jane laughed and shrugged, "I don't know, I just…never did."

"You might as well come and sit next to me, so you can watch it in all its glory," he said as he patted to the spot on the sofa.

Jane moved from the loveseat she was sitting in to join him. She first sat on him purposefully, "That's for saying that _The Sound of Music_ was boring. I mean, who says that?"

"Who says they've never seen _I Love Lucy_?" he replied as he gently nudged her off and onto the sofa. He then lifted himself slightly to reach around her waist and pull her legs up by his, which naturally caused her to lie down next to him.

The position felt so comfortable and natural that she didn't protest. She reveled in the small gesture of his hand resting against her hip and the vibrations from his chest when he laughed. That combination along with his warm breath against her neck and the cologne his sister bought him for Christmas last year started to have an effect on her, an effect of the sleepy variety.

She even genuinely liked the show, but the jet lag took over. Jane lasted two and a half episodes before the lack of sleep caught up with her and she dosed off.

* * *

><p>"Jane, this is the part where Ethel—," he started, but fell quiet when he noticed her eyes closed and her deep rhythmic breathing.<p>

Brandt smiled as he watched her sleep. He found himself reflecting on their evening together. He couldn't believe it when he had opened the door to find her standing there. He wasn't the type to have guests and cater to their entertainment, but this was not any guest…or any woman, for that matter. This was Jane.

He couldn't remember the last time he had enjoyed himself so much with a woman. He didn't have to fake an interest in anything she was saying, she had a quick witted response for his smart ass comments, she laughed at his jokes, and he could even overlook her distaste for rock music.

She stirred in her sleep as she made herself more comfortable. Like the time when she was in the hospital, he lightly traced her eyebrows before he gently moved a strand of hair from her face.

He switched off the TV with the remote and attempted to make himself comfortable. His neck was at an odd position and was no doubt going to kill him in the morning, but it would have been worth it. He closed his eyes and a few minutes later he too fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Something smelt good. Jane stretched and slowly opened her eyes. She took a moment to recall her surroundings. The empty pizza box still sat on the table next to the empty bottles of beers, but something—someone—was missing. She slowly sat up and took in another deep breath of the smell emanating from kitchen.<p>

She made her way over and found a small kitchen table already set for breakfast. Brandt stood by the stove and added another pancake to a stack that sat on the counter.

"Lucy," she imitated Ricky Ricardo's accent, "You got some 'splaining to do." He looked up her and laughed at her greeting.

"Hey, I was just about to come and wake you up…Ricky."

She laughed and her stomach did a little flip when he looked at her as warmly as he did, "I can't believe I fell asleep like that. I'm so sorry!" Jane said as she ran her hand through her hair and over her eyes to rub the remnants of sleep away, "I just passed out."

Brandt shrugged it off, "You don't need to apologize for falling asleep. You were tired. If you do want to apologize for something you could do so for the big drool stain you left on my shirt," he teased as he set the pancakes on the table and gestured for her to sit.

"You liar! I did not drool on you!" Jane replied as she slid into a seat.

"You're right. It was more a slobber than a drool," he said with a chuckle.

"Well, a little slobber is nothing compared to you snoring in my ear all night," she responded playfully.

Brandt scoffed as he joined her at the table, "Just for that you can get your own coffee."

Jane laughed and helped herself to some pancakes, "Do you cook breakfast for all the women who spend the night?" She asked before she took a bite.

"I usually make sure they're gone long before breakfast rolls around," he answered truthfully.

"Wham, bam, thank you ma'am?" she teased.

He laughed and shrugged, "Something like that."

"Those poor women," Jane said as she shook her head, "They missed out on some amazing pancakes."

"This is nothing. Wait until you taste one of my omelets," he said as he casually drank his coffee. She looked up at him and stuffed her mouth with pancake. She accepted the subtle invitation.

* * *

><p>An hour later, Brandt found himself rubbing his sore neck as he watched her reach for the last pancake. This was something he could see himself get used to—sharing breakfasts with her.<p>

"I promise you, next time we watch _I Love Lucy_ I will not fall asleep," she said to him.

"So, there is going to be a next time?" he smirked. He liked the sound of that. He liked her period. There was no point in denying it.

"I have to try out those omelets, remember?" she winked at him.

Her phone buzzed from the living room and the easygoing expression on her face faded away as she stood up, "At least I had a great meal before they reeled me back in," she said used his should to push herself up.

He watched her leave the kitchen and he knew exactly what she meant. Another mission. He let out a sigh and stood up to clear off the table.

He liked her, but how was this going to work. She had her own missions and now that he had been reactivated he was going to have his own missions, too. Sure, they would probably get to work together every so often, but not often enough for his liking. Brandt frowned as he looked out of the kitchen window.

"William," her voice sounded soft from behind him, "I have to get going."

He made his expression as neutral as possible before he turned to face her. He leaned against the sink, "Work calls, I get it. I'll be on that boat, too. Thank you for last night—the pizza, the company—it was…nice."

Jane slowly walked over to him and smiled, "It was nice. Thank you for breakfast…and for letting me slobber all over you."

Despite the desire to keep his face neutral, he let out a small laugh, "Anytime," he said. "Here, I will walk you out."

They went back to the living room where she retrieved her jacket and slipped her shoes back on. Brandt slowly opened the door for her. Jane walked through and turned to face him. She stared into his blue eyes for a few moments before she leaned in and placed a soft kiss on the corner of his jaw line. She had one hand on his chest to keep her balance and the other he found and laced her fingers with his. Her lips felt soft and warm against his skin and he swallowed hard.

"Stay safe out there," she whispered.

He nodded, "You too, Jane."

They held hands for a little while longer before he finally let go. Her hand stayed in mid air and longed for his before she finally hid it in her pocket. She gave him a small wave with her other hand and turned to descend the staircase.

Brandt shut the door behind her and he knocked his head against the door. He flexed his hand, still warm for her touch. He went back to the kitchen to finish clearing up and no sooner was he done that he heard his own IMF provided cell phone ring.

_Time to get back into the field_, he thought as he went to pick it up.

* * *

><p>She picked up her phone and read the message that contained the co-ordinates to a destination, where she was to meet a team leader and accompany him on a mission. Jane let out a slow breath she wanted nothing more than to just go back into the kitchen and enjoy the rest of the morning with Brandt.<p>

She put the phone back into her jacket pocket and returned to the kitchen. A few moments later, he walked her out and she stood at the door. She felt torn because she wanted to kiss him, but somehow despite spending the night she felt that might seem too rushed. The last thing she wanted was to rush whatever this was between them.

Instead, she gently kissed his jaw line. His morning stubble tickled slightly and she took pleasure in that feeling. His heart raced behind his chest as she placed her on him. In the middle of that he had grabbed her hand and it was as if he didn't want her to leave. Jane looked at him as he stood there with his hair a mess as a result from what must have been an uncomfortable night on the couch. His hand felt warm and the caress from his fingers tried to break her self-control. He pulled back though and it took her a few moments to memorize the feeling before she hid her hand in her jacket pocket.

No doubt he would be getting his own assignments soon now that he was an agent again. A flicker of worry crossed her face, but she knew he could handle himself out in the field. Nonetheless, she still told him to stay safe.

He returned the well wishes and Jane smiled. She turned on her heels quickly before she gave in to her urge to fully show him how much she cared.


	20. Chapter 20

Five weeks. Five weeks of back and forth text messages between them. A phone call whenever they had a moment, which was rare, but Jane had cherished each one.

There were still days she felt guilty about Hanaway and how she was unable able to return the feelings he had toward her, but Hunt was right that day on the plane to Mumbai, when he said to not let guilt stop her from moving forward. Trevor would not have wanted that, but somewhere in the corner of her mind she knew she would never be able to forgive herself for his death.

Jane still needed to move on and heal from the guilt and Brandt was part of that healing. There were moments when she was like a schoolgirl whenever she received a message from him. She would listen to it over and over or read them and commit them to memory. They never said anything that was overly personal. Usually, the exchanges allowed them to catch up with each other—let the other one know they were safe.

A few days ago she had received a message and expected it to be from Brandt, the origin came from Ethan instead. The message asked her to join him, Benji, and Brandt in Seattle. Jane was thrilled. Hunt was going to ask them to embark on a mission as a team, she knew it. Finally, she was going to be able spend professional time with her boys, but most of all, spend time with Brandt…to actually give whatever this was a real chance.

Brandt called her a few hours after Ethan's message, "Jane, you got the message, right?" He said when she answered. There was something in the way he spoke that let Jane know he was smiling and he probably felt as equally pleased as she was.

"I did and it looks like I will be seeing you soon," she replied.

"I look forward to it," he said, which made Jane's heart beat faster, "I was thinking I could pick you up an hour early…that way we have some time to catch up before we meet up with the others?"

"I'd love that," she said and the two exchanged safe wishes until the meet-up. She sighed contentedly and reveled in the idea of seeing him on a regular basis.

Now, here she was three days later. She looked out the window from her hotel room and watched as the cars streaked by at the road below. She checked her watch right periodically and enjoyed the evening's light breeze as her phone rang in her pocket. She pulled it out to find his name as the contact.

She answered it quickly, "Hey, took you long enough, are you downstairs?" she said rather excitedly as she went back into the room.

"Yeah, I'm downstairs. See you in a few," he said and hung up. She expected his greeting to be just as cheerful, but instead he sounded…distant.

Jane brushed it off, checked her reflection one last time in the mirror, and headed downstairs to the main lobby. She found the light breeze refreshing and she found it fitting since tonight was a fresh start for her team.

There he was. Brandt leaned against the car with hands in his pockets. The usual warmth she experienced at his sight erupted into her stomach and it did a small flip. She made the effort to save the view before she went to him and threw her arms around him in a hug.

"It's so good to see you!" She said enthusiastically. He hesitated and returned her hug after a moment, but he kept quiet. She pulled back confused at his behavior and looked at him as she searched his face for an answer. She lowly removed her arms from around his neck and assumed that the hug made him feel uncomfortable.

She swallowed hard and the hope of having an exciting drive with him slowly died down. She dug her hands in her pockets.

"Ready to get going?" She asked and he silently opened her car door as she slipped in. The warm feeling that had settled at the pit of her stomach was gone and it was now replaced by uncertainty. Something was wrong.

* * *

><p>Brandt shook his head in frustration as he drove towards her hotel. If he was a smoking man now would have been the perfect time to light a cigarette to numb his insides. It had been five weeks since the last time they saw each other. Five very long weeks and the idea of seeing her again should have sent him straight to cloud nine, but the feeling of anxiety and worry brought him down from the high where he wanted to be.<p>

His missions had gone by quickly. London, Tokyo, New York. He was on a break when he got the message from Hunt. At first he was thrilled about the idea of seeing Jane again and he immediately called her to make arrangements to see her before they met up with Ethan and Benji.

However, the more he thought about it the less thrilled he felt. It had been eight weeks since that mission when the agency was disavowed. If Hunt had called them to meet up together, it for one thing and one thing only: he was going to establish a field team.

As much as he looked forward to working with Benji and Jane, Brandt could not bring himself to work with Ethan again. Not after what happened in Croatia. What he did back in Dubai and Mumbai was for the sake of the world's safety, but that did not change the fact that it was his fault that Ethan's wife was dead. It was his job to protect her and he had failed Ethan. How was Hunt supposed to trust him on a long-term basis after that? There was no way he could be on a team lead by Ethan Hunt.

Brandt pulled up outside the hotel and pulled out his phone. He scrolled through the contacts and momentarily stared at the codename he kept for her…Venus. He dropped his head onto the steering wheel as he dialed, "Hey. It's me. I'm downstairs," he said dryly.

The sound of her voice was like a punch to the abdomen. He knew she was going to be disappointed at his decision to not join the team. He also knew that Jane would try and fight him on his decision, but it was pointless though. His mind was made up.

He got out of the car and walked around onto the curb to lean against the passenger side door. He spotted her before she saw him. She looked beautiful. It took all his strength to not break out into a run and catch her midway.

She approached him and he was half prepared when she threw her arms around him and engulfed him in a tight hug. He resisted the urge to hug her back, but slowly gave way as his arms rounded her waist and her to him. He savored the moment and closed his eyes at her familiar scent. She told him she missed him and his throat tightened with emotion so much so he was unable to say anything back. Jane pulled back and looked at him with her arms still round his neck. She seemed somewhat disappointed at his response and his distance was already starting to kill him. He frowned slightly and she pulled away completely.

He opened her door for her and she slid in.

* * *

><p>She watched him as he pulled away from the curb. Jane got the impression that he was avoiding looking at her and she failed to understand why. She wanted to break the silence before the situation became more awkward to bear.<p>

"You know when I got Ethan's message a few days ago I…I couldn't believe it. I mean, just the fact that he wants us to meet like this—you know what that means, right?"

Brandt gave a single nod, "He's going to ask us to be a team. The four of us."

"Yes! Ethan, Benji, you, me….and well," she said as she grinned and turned slightly in her seat to face him, "We can finally see each other more often, which will give us a chance to explore…this," she said indicating the relationship between them, "I mean, seeing each other daily will be better than an occasional text or voice message, wouldn't you agree?"

He stole a glance at her and smiled slightly before he returned his eyes to the road, "Being able to see you every day, Jane…to work with you again like we did on that mission. I don't think there's anything I want more."

Her heart warmed at his words and she reached out to touch him. Her fingers gently caressed the back of his neck as she spoke softly, "Me either, William. I meant what I said earlier. It's good seeing you again…I've missed you."

He swallowed hard and kept a stoic face as he continued to look at the road, "I've missed you, too."

"Well, it looks like we won't have to miss each other as much anymore now that we'll be on the same team. You know, Benji is never going to shut up about this, right? Even now, every time I speak to him he asks me when's the last time I heard from you in his not-so-subtle way," she laughed, "I swear he thinks that—"

"I'm not joining the team," he said firmly as he cut her off mid sentence.

Jane was sure she misheard him. The smile disappeared from her face and she frowned as a jumble of his words echoed through her mind.

"What team?" she asked even though she already knew the answer. She wanted to hear him say it again.

"This team. Hunt's team. I won't be joining it."

She slowly pulled her hand away.

* * *

><p>The ability to see her on a regular basis was really everything he wanted. He meant it when he said it to her. She told him she missed him as her fingers gently caressed the back of his neck. Her hand shifted back and forth between his nape and his ear lobe. The sensation caused some of his iron resolve to slip.<p>

The small voice in the back of his mind yelled at him to respond back, "I missed you too, Jane," he said.

He missed her more than he thought it possible. In total, they had spent less than two weeks together and already Brandt was more attached to her than any woman he had ever been with, which made his decision even more difficult to bear. If things were different then maybe…but they weren't.

She now talked about Benji and the four of them working together. It was now or never. He didn't mean to blurt it out, but he finally came out with the truth of the matter.

Her fingers stopped caressing his neck at the sound of his words.

"What team?" Her voice sounded confused and she spoke slowly as if was attempting to put the pieces of what he said together.

"This team. Hunt's team. I won't be joining it," he said, his mouth dry. He felt the warmth of her hand leave the back of his neck and she pulled it away. He saw her fold her hands on her lap from the corner of his eye and she looked out the window unable to see her expression.

"Jane…look, I can't, okay. I can't be on his team. Not after what happened with Julia—his wife."

"William, we've discussed this—"

He continued over her words, "I know what we discussed, Jane. It's because of those discussions I'm even out on the field again, but being an agent and being an agent with Ethan Hunt are two different things. How am I supposed to look at him in the face knowing that I took her away from him? That I'm the reason she's gone?" He gripped the steering wheel tighter.

"When we get to the pier I'm going to tell him that I'm the one responsible for Julia's death and decline the invitation to join the team."

He expected her to yell, but instead an eerily calm voice greeted his ears, "Pull over," she said.

He turned to look at her surprised, "What?"

Jane pointed to a gas station, "There at the gas station. Pull over. I'm not having this conversation while you're driving."

He frowned, but did as she asked as he pulled over and turned off the car.

"William…look at me," she said.

* * *

><p>Jane pulled her hand away and laced them on her lap as she waited for him to continue. He began to ramble about Ethan's wife and about that mission he repeatedly took blame for. They had talked about this and she had stressed that it wasn't his fault because he made the right decision based on protocol. She had accepted her mistakes on the field, and she thought he had accepted his.<p>

Jane tried to say as much, but he didn't let her get a word in edgewise. He avoided looking at her and kept his eyes on the road as he spoke, his knuckes slowly going white the tighter he held onto the steering wheel. She needed to get through to him and she was not going to achieve that while half of his mind stared at the road ahead of them.

"There at the gas station. Pull over," she said as she tried to keep her emotions at bay.

She waited for him to kill the engine before she shifted slightly in her seat. Jane asked him to look at her and Brandt slowly turned to face her. Jane could have argued with him about guilt and responsibility, but that would only have them going round in circles. So, she went straight to the point that most affected her.

"What about us?" She asked him "What happens to us, William?"

"This has nothing to do with us," he answered in a nonchalant tone that sparked her temper.

"This _affects_ us! It affects the possibility of there _being_ an 'us'! Not three minutes ago you told me you missed me. Was that a lie?"

"Jane, of course it wasn't! I did miss—"

"Then how can you just ignore the only chance we have to get to know each other better both off and on the field, and actually have something. That is what you want, right?"

"Yes, but—"

"But, _what_, William?" Her anger reached full blast, "You think this is easy for me? You think I just pushed aside Trevor's death that happened during _my_ op? That I'm no longer plagued by guilt over his death and the decisions I've made? Over what happened to him, over my feelings for you!"

"Jane, you don't understand."

"No. YOU don't understand! HE DIED IN MY ARMS, BRANDT! LESS THAN FOUR MONTHS AGO! I finally thought that I was healing, that I finally accepted that I was feeling things for another person—another person, who I ASSUMED, had feelings for me. That logistics was what was keeping this from moving forward and finally—FINALLY!—we have a chance to actually turn this into something and you are so willing to—"

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LOOK HIM IN THE FACE, JANE? HOW CAN HE BLINDLY PUT HIS TRUST IN ME WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT I'VE DONE? WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT I TOOK AWAY FROM HIM FOR MAKING ONE STUPID MISTAKE? THIS IS NOT ABOUT US! THIS THING BETWEEN US DOESN'T MATTER! THIS IS BIGGER THAN US!"

It was as if someone had punched her. His words cut right through her and they hurt her more than she would care to admit. Jane bit her bottom lip and shifted to look out of the window. She blinked back tears and refused to let any fall on his account.

Brandt cursed softly to himself and reached out for her. She held her hand up and he stopped midway, "Don't!" She knew if she let him touch her, put his arms around her and comfort her that she would come undone.

When she spoke again her voice was dangerously low in a mix of anger and hurt, "I know what guilt feels like. I live with it every day, William, _every_ _day_. I thought that similarity had brought us together and I thought we were moving forward—together. I understand that you can never forgive yourself for not warning them, but I thought that you were on the road to accepting that you were not to blame," Jane took a deep breath and finally looked up at him and tried another approach, "If you just talked to Ethan, if you explained to him like you did to me and Benji then he too would see—"

"No, Jane." There was finality to his tone that cut her open again.

She clenched her jaw, "So, that's it then?"

* * *

><p>He didn't mean to raise his voice at her. He was just trying to tell her, to make her understand his position, but she was so stubborn. She refused to listen and before he knew it he was yelling and saying things that he should have never said. His words hurt her and it was written all over her face.<p>

"Shit," he muttered under his breath. He hated himself for hurting her and for being the cause of that expression on her face. She turned her head to look out the window, but Brandt could have sworn he saw tears in her eyes.

_Fucking asshole_, Brandt told himself. He reached out and wanted to apologize for his words, but she held her hand up to dismiss his own. She then spoke, anger and hurt evident in her voice.

She originally mentioned Hanaway and compared that situation to his, but it was not the same. He would have to work with Ethan on a regular basis and have Ethan blindly trust the man who completely failed him. There was nothing Jane could say that would change his mind. His decision was made and he refused to go back on it now.

"So, that's it then?" She whispered.

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. He wanted to tell her everything. To tell her how crazy he was about her. That he looked forward to every little text message and he worried about her on every mission. He wanted to tell her he loved that husky voice of hers and the way she smelt, and that he knew he was a lucky bastard that she was even interested in someone like him.

He couldn't though. He couldn't say all of that to her and still stand by his decision to not join the team. His eyes gradually met hers and he nodded at her question. That was it.

Her jaw clenched. She ran her hands through her hair and bit her bottom lip before she spoke, "We're not that far from the pier. I'll walk from here," she said hoarsely and with that Jane left the car and slammed the door behind her.

Brandt bit his tongue to stop himself from physically calling out to her and asking her to get back into the car. Instead he let out another frustrated breath "I am sorry Jane," he whispered to the empty seat beside him.


	21. Chapter 21

It took Jane a little under half an hour to walk to the pier. As she did her emotions flashed back and forth between anger and hurt, and eventually settled on hurt. She understood where he was coming from. To be honest, she could not blame him for not wanting to be on a team. In Brandt's mind working with Ethan would be reminder of what he had cost the man. Jane understood that.

That did not stop it from hurting. Realistically, the only way she and Brandt could even attempt some form of a relationship was if they worked together on a regular basis. Otherwise, it would just be something fleeting like what she had with Hanaway—and, while that had been enough for her then, things were now different. She wanted more with Brandt.

Jane bit her lip. It didn't matter what she wanted. He was not joining the team and that meant that they would see each other every so often, but nothing would really come of their relationship. She felt her heart sink a little more, but pushed that aside when she spotted Benji walking over towards her.

"Hey Benji," Jane said and leaned in to give him a quick hug.

"Hello, where's Brandt?" he asked.

"We're not joined at the hip, Benji!" Jane said slightly defensively.

"I know that! I just thought you two would—oh, never mind. There he is," Benji said as he lifted his hand to wave at him, who approached her from behind. Jane tensed up, but refused to turn around to look at him. She kept her eyes on Benji.

"We should find Ethan," she said as soon as Brandt had joined them.

"I see him," Brandt said with a nod towards the tables, "Over there." Jane started to walk towards the tables and sure enough there was Ethan. He sat at a table with a man that left shortly after their arrival.

"Thanks for meeting me," Hunt said as they all took seats at the table. It had been eight weeks since the four of them had been together like this. Ethan and Benji shared a joke about the BMW he had crashed and Jane laughed politely. She could feel Brandt's eyes on her, but she refused to turn and at meet his gaze. Instead, she focused on Ethan.

The last time she saw him was in the hospital in India when he was all bandaged up from his various injuries, "How's the leg?" she asked.

"Still working," Hunt replied before he nodded, "You?"

She thought for a moment. Physically, she was fine. Emotionally—despite the fight she had with Brandt, despite the fact they weren't going to be together as she had earlier assumed—emotionally she was, "Healing," she said with a small smile, and she and Ethan exchanged a look of understanding.

"I'm fine, by the way!" Benji said with a small wave, "I'm not actually sleeping though. You know, cold sweats, middle of the night." His statement caused Jane to frown slightly. He always acted so carefree whenever she spoke to him. Her heart went out to Benji since he was relatively new to the field and had been thrown into missions that really put him to the test.

Benji looked around at the people on the pier as they drank and socialized. He lamented on how at peace they all seemed considering their lives were in danger just a few weeks ago, "They have no idea they were almost vaporized! If it hadn't been for—"

"Dumb luck?" Brandt said and Jane held her breath. Did he really believe that their success was a result of nothing but luck? It was more than that! She was about to speak up when Ethan vocalized her thoughts.

Hunt looked at each of them and reminded them how despite the team being unprepared and disavowed the four of them worked well together. They made a good team. He placed three mobile phones on the table, one for each of them.

"Your missions…choose to accept them," he said.

The table fell silent and Jane couldn't hold it any longer. She stole a quick glance at Brandt, but he was focused on the phones on the table.

Benji accepted his first, "I'm in" he said, "I mean, it's not as if any mission is going to worse than that last one, is it? Is it?" His nervous laughter and hopeful expression caused the rest of them to laugh. Benji reached out, picked up his phone, stood up, and exchanged a handshake with Ethan before he left the table.

It was just her and Brandt now, but she didn't draw out the inevitable. She knew she wanted to be on the team and she knew Brandt's decision. Jane picked up the phone closest to her, "Agent Hunt," she said to Ethan as she walked past him, gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze, headed down towards the pubs.

Benji waited for her with a huge grin on his face, "This is excellent!"

Jane returned his smile, but it must not have reached her eyes because he frowned slightly, "What's wrong?" he asked.

She shook her head, "Nothing, nothing." Jane slipped the phone into her pocket and stole a look over her shoulder at Brandt and Ethan. Brandt stood next to him. She couldn't see the expression on his face, but she could read his body language. Tense, uncomfortable…relieved? She watched as he slowly sat down in Benji's vacant seat.

"How about a round of drinks to celebrate?" Benji said and she returned her attention to him.

That actually sounded like a good idea. She would need a drink or two after she said goodbye to Brandt, "Sure thing, Benji," Jane said, "You go and get us a table, okay? I'm going to wait here for Brandt and then we'll be right in."

Benji nodded, "Okay, don't take too long," and with that he was off. Jane turned to face the table where Hunt and Brandt were seated, folded her arms, and waited.

* * *

><p>Brandt sat in the car for twenty minutes. He hated himself for hurting her and promised himself that he would make it up to her even though he had no idea how. Finally, he started the car and drove the short distance to the pier, parking the rental, and hopped out.<p>

He scanned the crowd and checked for her. _She should be here by now_. Sure enough there she was as she talked with Benji. He started to walk towards them and he waved back when Benji called out to him. Jane didn't turn around and he noticed her back stiffen when Benji called his name.

He barely nodded a greeting at Benji when Jane insisted they find Hunt. Brandt checked his watch. They still had a few minutes to spare, but he figured she just wanted to get there as soon as possible. He nodded to where Ethan sat at a table and they made their way over. Bradt started to walk along beside her when she moved to walk on the other side of Benji. He internally sighed and walked on.

Hunt was talking to a robust black man when they approached. Hunt introduced him as Luther before he introduced the three of them.

"I blew an entire weekend on the bottom of the San Francisco bay, no thanks to you clowns!" Luther said to them. No doubt something to do with the fact the IMF had been disavowed because of them. Luther must have been positioned somewhere on the West Coast when it happened.

Luther exchanged a little more banter with Ethan before he left. Benji, Jane, and Brandt slid into the empty seats around him. Brandt purposely picked the one opposite Ethan. Jane sat to his left and he stole a glance at her a few moments later when she laughed at Ethan's joke. He continued to watch as she and Ethan exchanged pleasantries.

She told Ethan she was healing…she told him the same thing she said in the car about half an hour earlier. The fact that he was a part of her healing and was now hurting her made him hate himself even more. He forced his gaze away from her and turned his attention to Benji, who happened to be talking about their past mission.

"All these people are happy and smiling, completely oblivious to the fact that they were almost vaporized. I mean if it hadn't been for—"

"Dumb luck?" Brandt said because really that's what it was. Dumb fucking luck that they stopped that warhead in time. Dumb luck that they had not been caught or killed.

"Was it?" Ethan said, "I mean, look. We were unprepared, in the dark…disavowed. The only thing that functioned properly on that mission was this team…I don't know how we ended up together, but I am glad we did."

Hunt removed three cell phones from his pocket and put them on the table. He looked at Brandt dead in the eyes as he spoke, "Your missions…choose to accept them."

Brandt could no longer hold Ethan's gaze. Hunt was asking him to join a team now, but when he'll discover the truth in a few minutes he will change his mind.

Benji accepted the mission as he picked up his phone. Jane followed suit and he watched her go. He felt his heart sink at the thought of everything they were loosing before it had even begun. He stood up, left the phone on the table, and moved to follow Jane. To say something to her…anything.

"Brandt," Ethan called out to him and stopped him in his tracks. He watched Jane's retreating back from where he stood. It was time to tell him—to tell Ethan that he was the reason Julia Hunt died.

Brandt kept his eyes forward as he spoke, "I'm not picking up that phone, Ethan, because I don't think you want me in the field," he said and frowning slightly.

"I know your wife is dead. I was there in Croatia," he stole a look at Hunt before he continued, "I was there for one reason. One. And, I failed. It was my job to protect her." _It is my fault._

"How do you know she's dead?" Hunt asked calmly.

Brandt turned his head sharply to look at Ethan. What sort of question was that? "There was a body," he answered, confused by the question.

"Did you see it?" Hunt asked again in the same calm tone that he used before. Brandt's heart raced…was Ethan possibly saying that she was not dead. No, if that was true he would have retaliated for her death.

"You—you killed those Serbians," Brandt told him.

"I had to get her back," Ethan said.

Brandt could not believe what Ethan implied. What about the prison he was sent to? He posed the question to Ethan, who simply said that he was willing to make that sacrifice since IMF suspected Hendricks had people in prison. The only way to get to him was to have someone on the inside. If all this was true then that would mean that the hit Ethan took out was for nothing.

"So, six dead Serbians was the ideal cover?" Brandt asked.

"Ah, waste not, want not," he replied.

Relief flooded through him. He could practically feel his shoulders ease from the guilt being lifted. Brandt sat down, rubbed his face, and let out a thankful chuckle.

"The Secretary never told me," he said.

Hunt leaned in slightly toward him, "I accepted the prison mission on one condition. That no one knows she's alive." Brandt was surprised. Hunt trusted him with the truth.

"…But you're telling me?" He got a nod in response and another relieved laugh escaped him. This changed everything. This meant that somewhere out there Julia Hunt was alive and well. It meant that he had not failed his mission. That he had not failed Ethan.

"When did you find out I was in Croatia?" He asked curious as to how long Ethan had known that Brandt had been his protective detail at the time.

"I pulled your file after India," he said.

"Right," Brandt said with a nod. His mind still raced at the news, "So, you had to fake your wife's death," he said.

Ethan's tone changed and carried a hint of longing and sorrow as he spoke, "As long as we were together she could never be safe. It was not your job to protect her Brandt. It was mine."

Brandt looked up and from where he sat he could see Jane talking to Benji. Jane. Everything was different now. He and Jane could actually have a chance at a relationship. A new emotion that he was not sure how to describe filled him. He could not wait to tell her the news.

He turned to Ethan and extended his hand, "So, we're good?"

Hunt shook his hand firmly, "We're good," he said.

Brandt stood up and picked up the phone and started his walk towards Jane. His eyes never left her as he closed the distance between them.


	22. Chapter 22

Jane watched him approach her and she let out a long sigh. _Here we go_, she thought. When Brandt reached her she tried to read his expression, but he wore a neutral mask. Any lingering hope she might have had of him joining the team died and she broke eye contact to look down at her feet instead.

"Jane—," he said softly.

"You spoke to Ethan? You told him?" She asked, but she already knew the answer. Of course, he told Ethan and he said as much.

Jane refused to look directly at him. So, that was it. The finality of the situation sent a wave of defeat through her. She ran a hand through her hair and forced herself to meet his gaze.

"You didn't take the phone," she said and it came out more as a statement rather than a question. Brandt remained silent.

"So, what are you going to do now?" She asked him. He would probably end up on another team—with other IMF agents…female agents just as capable as she was. The fact made her skin crawl and she inwardly scoffed at her jealousy, but it was a fact. She frowned slightly and refused to think of Brandt in his future endeavors without her in them.

He looked thoughtful for a moment and sighed, "Now, I'm going to call my sister and ask that I talk to my niece because she gets really worried over her uncle Will."

She couldn't help but smile despite the swirl of emotions that plagued her. She nodded, "Smart girl."

Brandt continued, "Then, I'll tell her that it'll probably be a little while before I see her again because her uncle Will is going away for some time."

Jane frowned slightly confused, "What do you mean you're going to be away—"

Brandt bit his bottom lip, reached into his pocket, and slowly pulled out the phone.

"Jane. Ethan and I came to an understanding, but most importantly, I took it because I can't bear the thought of losing this chance between us—to grow professionally together…and to be more than that."

Jane didn't take her eyes away from the phone. He was staying. He was actually staying. She turned her back to him and looked out at the water needing a moment to compose her emotions. Her heart raced as she realized that the possibility could finally become a reality. They were actually going to get a shot at this.

Brandt let the hand that held the phone fall to his side. He continued to talk, however, despite not being able to see her expression. He rambled on and she rolled her eyes playfully. She turned back around instantly and punched him on the arm.

"Ow, what the hell?" he exclaimed as he rubbed his arm.

"That was for yelling at me earlier," she said before she punched him again on the other arm slightly harder, "That was for crushing my heart," he cried out in pain again and took a step back to avoid her next swing. She matched his step and took another hit.

"That was for pretending you weren't joining the team and hiding the phone in your pocket." She made a move to punch him again and this time he closed his eyes.

She unclenched her fist and smiled instead. She took out her frustrations on him like a punching bag, but now she wanted to do the one thing she only dreamt of doing. She stepped closer and took his face in her hands. He flinched at her touch, but he held his ground. He opened one eye and then the other as her touch and caress became more inviting and less threatening. Within moments he instinctively placed his hands on her waist to draw her closer to him.

"You know you're a jerk, right?" she said as her hands traveled along his jaw and down his neck.

"I thought 'asshole' was more fitting," he replied and she chuckled. That's what she called him in Dubai and again on the plane to Mumbai, "Seriously, Jane. I'm sorry for—"

"Stop talking," she said before she leaned in and her soft lips met his. She felt him smile against her lips and it gave her incentive to deepen the kiss. She traced one hand against his jaw line, up his ear, and buried her fingers in his hair. He bit her bottom lip and the sensation sent jolts to the pit of her stomach. His hands surreptitiously escaped under her shirt and he tugged on her waistline as an invitation to come closer. She did and he quickly shifted one hand to caress the back of her neck, while he held her at bay with the other. He gently pulled on her hair to raise her head and she naturally opened her lips more against his.

The sound of people in the background penetrated her deepest desires to continue to the kiss. Jane slightly shifted her head to the side, which caused Brandt to kiss the corner of her mouth and he continued to leave a trail against her jaw line and down her neck. Her ears and cheeks were flushed from the intensity of the moment and she hid them as she leaned to bury her head in the crook of his shoulder. She held him tightly and he did the same.

* * *

><p>She probably hated his guts, but she still wanted to know what he was going to do. She was confident that he had not taken the phone, so he spoke of his niece in an attempt to ease in the good news. He held on to the phone tightly in his pocket and waited for the proper moment.<p>

He promised himself to not reveal Ethan's secret, so when he pulled out his phone he told her the truth: that he and Ethan accepted and understood each other as professionals should. He also let her know, most importantly, that he had taken the phone for her—to be with her. He wanted to make up for everything he said in the car and for the way he acted, so when he revealed the phone he expected her to be happy.

He even hoped for her to throw her arms around him in a hug and forgive him. Instead, she turned her back to him and Brandt panicked. Was this her way of rejecting him? Was she still upset about their fight in the car? The last thing he wanted was to loose her now that he actually had the key in the form of a phone in his hand.

"Jane, come on," he began softly, "I didn't mean anything that I said before. I couldn't handle the pressure of working with Ethan. I didn't want to sacrifice what we have, what we could have." He went to touch her arm, "Jane, please listen to me, I just—"

She turned around unexpectedly and punched him in the arm. It hurt. He couldn't remember the last time a woman punched him hard, but it didn't matter because Jane took the cake. He naturally cried out in pain, "What the hell!"

She punched him three more times and his arms were starting to feel numb. He thought about defending himself, but this was Jane. She was about to go for a fourth punch when he scrunched his eyes closed. Instead of another sting to his arm, he felt two soft hands cradle his face.

He opened his eyes one by one and saw a small smile on her face. He liked kick ass Jane, but he definitely liked this side of Jane more. He moved his hands to her waist as she proceeded to call him a jerk.

He mentally agreed, but corrected her with the proper name she grew accustomed to calling him back in their first mission together. Asshole. She laughed lightly and he gently caressed her sides with his thumbs, "Seriously, Jane. I'm sorry for—"

She said something, but he only focused on the fact that she leaned towards him and kissed him. Brandt was stunned, but the moment caught up with him and he smiled against her lips. He felt her hands explore the side of his face and the sensation of her hand buried in his hair urged him to do some exploring himself. He tightened his grip on her waist and bit her bottom lip to match her fervor. She shivered slightly and he enjoyed the effect it had on her. He held back a groan when she bit his lip back. He had kissed many women in his time, but there was something in this kiss that made him crave for more. He felt her temperature increase the moment he tugged on her belt and even though they had been kissing for a few moments now, he needed to make sure it was real. He brought his arm above her shoulder and buried his hand underneath her hair to get more access.

The moment he did, however, she moved slightly and the kiss was over far too soon for his liking. He stretched the moment longer and caressed her jaw line with his lips, while she settled her head next to his and held him tightly in a hug.

In that moment William Brandt knew he was done for. Whatever he felt for her was serious and he wanted this to be serious. He wanted to stay up late at night with her to watch TV on the couch and make her omelets for breakfast the next morning. He wanted her to meet his niece and to meet the sister she spoke of so fondly. He wanted her to be a part of his life.

"I squeeze the toothpaste from the middle of the tube," he admitted out of the blue and Jane pulled back to look at him.

"What?" She asked with a confused chuckle.

"Toothpaste," Brandt repeated, "When I use it, I always squeeze from the middle of the tube. I just thought you should know what you're getting into here."

Jane laughed. He loved that laugh.

"Don't worry about it," she said, "I squeeze from the top."

He pretended to think about it, "Yeah…I think I can live with that."

Jane gave him a quick peck on the cheek and turned to stand side by side with him. She nudged him on the shoulder and lightly brushed her hand against his, "Come on, Benji is waiting for us. He probably thinks we've started the mission without him."

He sighed contentedly and slipped his hand in hers. He was uncertain about the future and what future mission had in store for them, but he was certain that his future had Jane by his side.

* * *

><p><strong>Authors Note: That concludes 'Venus and The Helper' This is the first fan fiction I have ever written and I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for reading and reviewing. It has meant so much to hear your feedback. I will be visiting this pair again in a few shorter fics and one shots down the road - until then do not forget to check the Tumblr community 'brandtcarter' for your William Brandt and Jane Carter fix!<strong>


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